A (Nerdy) Love Story
by ArtsyChic
Summary: Sophie Jays is the new girl, mail-room deliverer and personal assistant to almost everyone at the spy agency; H. T. U. V. (Honour, Trust, Unity and Valor). Walter Beckett notices and quickly becomes infatuated with her. But he has competition; young spy Steve Barker also has his eyes for her. Who will Sophie choose?
1. Good News

**I don't own the upcoming film ****_Spies in Disguise_****. I was inspired to write a story with the mentioned movie in mind after watching its second trailer. At late December 2019, I've finally seen it and can continue more on the story. I hope you enjoy! **

**6 months later…**

Sophie Jays was waiting in anticipation for her letter. It concerned the approval of the jobs that she recently signed up for; as mail delivery girl and personal assistant to almost everyone at H. T. U. V. (Honour, Trust, Unity and Valor).

At nine-thirty, she was awoken by a mail truck stop, doors opening and closing, and then driving off. With a big smile on her face, Sophie gently got out of bed, drank some water, did some morning stretches, and then descended downstairs to make a cup of tea. A few minutes later, she went outside to her mailbox, collected the post, and went back inside. While going through all the mail, she accidentally dropped something yellow-colored. Picking it up, she turned it around to see that it was addressed to her, name and company.

"Oh Felix!" she excitedly called to her ginger and white colored cat who was anyway on top of the yellow couch.

"I finally got it!" she said as she was jumping around like a jack-in-a-box. Then Sophie gently opened her letter with a small kitchen knife at first, unfolded the piece of paper, and read its contents thoroughly.

_Dear Ms. Jays_

_We are pleased and joyful to say that you fit our requirements for both mail-room delivery girl and personal assistant to almost every top spy in our agency, including one of our best; Lance Sterling. _

_We ask that you come in Thursday morning at 11:00 for our meeting so that you know the ropes around the place as well as get to know some of the people you'll mostly be working with._

_I am looking very forward to it._

_Kind regards,  
Daniel Connery_

_P.S You are allowed to wear casual attire in the meeting._

"YES! WHOO!" she exclaimed thrillingly.

"Yeah! We are in Felix!" Sophie was so happy that she bounced around the couch which made her cat very dizzy.

"I can't wait to tell Mom!" she said. Her mother, Cynthia "Cindy" Jays is one of the most acclaimed interior designers in the whole of Washington D.C. and often helps as a guidance counselor and therapist in the agency. She usually works long hours but mother and daughter get some time together, whether it is doing a fun activity or just hanging out and talking, whenever there is a break.

Sophie suddenly remembered that it was Tuesday today, and so had two days to prepare herself for the exciting event where she would hopefully work at.

For the rest of the day, Sophie stayed in her white and rainbow polka dot pajamas – as she felt like it anyway – and accomplished some house chores that consisted of vacuuming her and her mom's bedroom, the lounge, and the kitchen, as well as cleaning cupboards and bookcases before rearranging various items such as books and CD's in their places.

Cindy told Sophie via messaging that she'd only come home around seven tonight, which gave her enough time to also do a surprise dinner. She decided to cook some of their favorite meals; Chili Con Carne (without the red beans) and vegetable stir-fry. The fun cooking commenced at six on the dot with the accompaniment of many types of music such as _The Ballad of Mona Lisa _by Panic! At the Disco that Sophie sang and danced to.

"Hi mom!" Sophie said as Cindy closed the front door. She lovingly approached her daughter with a hello hug and kiss.

"Hi sweetheart, you're not going to believe what happened today," she said in a surprising tone.

"What? What is it?" Sophie asked, sharing her mother's excitement.

"I just got paid $715!"

Her daughter dropped her jaw followed by a wide smile.

"Golly, that is awesome!"

"I know right? How was your day today?"

"Fantastic thank you. I did some housework and…I also have big news," Sophie said with a smirk.

"What, what?" Cindy said enthusiastically.

"That job I signed up and told you about? I've got a meeting with them on Thursday morning!"

Her mom was shouting cheerily while running around the kitchen table which was filled with white plates, silver cutlery, and navy blue napkins.

"Darling that is marvelous! Wonderful news! I pray that all goes well with everything there when the day comes!"

"Thank you so much mommy! I sure hope so!"

Cindy was very stunned to see that her daughter prepared the table as well as made dinner. After briefly bouncing from exhilaration for their respective news, they continued talking about various subjects while dining. Afterwards, Sophie cleaned everything before she and her mother went to bed.

The last thought that passed in Sophie's brain before she lost consciousness was, "_I wonder what it's going to be like there at H. T. U. V. We can only wait and see on Thursday_."

**I hope you guys liked reading it as much as me writing it. Felix the cat is inspired by my own cat with the same name and fur colour. What did you think of that? Please comment :) and thank you very x2 much for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it deeply and greatly! **


	2. The Meeting(s)

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

On Wednesday, Sophie did not do much except look at her letter several times as well as write in her blog online about movies, music, and books – though she mostly wrote about films, such as throwbacks and latest news about an upcoming motion picture.

She was glad that the day went by very fast, as she was very thrilled about the events occurring the following day. She ensured that she got enough sleep in order to be really prepared for her meeting. Little did she know that she won't be getting one meeting at the agency…

**Meanwhile…**

Somewhere close in Sophie's neighborhood, a young scientist was working on something big while simultaneously reading a blog post by a familiar writer…

"I sure like this girl's countdown of songs that are 35 years old this year, like I didn't know _Magic_ by The Cars was turning that old this year. I like her music choices," he smiled.

**The next morning…**

It was finally Thursday. Sophie woke up at seven-thirty, took a twenty-two-minute shower, got dressed which consisted of black All-Star Converse shoes, semi-tight blue jeans that nearly showed her figure, Magenta T-shirt, white unbuttoned waistcoat, medium light-green heart earrings, and a ying-yang necklace. She checked herself at her mirror. Her whole appearance was that of chocolate-brown short curly hair with a right-side fringe, brown eyes, black _Kingsman_-esque glasses, round face, rosy cheeks, natural pink lips where she put on coconut-flavored lip balm, quite similar to Audrey Hepburn in terms of looks, and Isabella Rossellini in body type. She gave out a wide smile that showed her small, straight and beautiful buckteeth.

"_I feel and look good!_" She thought to herself.

She went downstairs and prepared herself a short breakfast; a cup of Five Roses tea with cream and honey, a whole Pink Lady apple, and a small salad with some cucumber, bits of tuna, feta, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, grinded black pepper, and some mixed nuts.

Sophie turned to the clock which said nine a.m.

"I better get going!"

Before she exited the house, she placed a cup that had a picture of various puppies on it next to the silver kettle for her mother – for she only had to go to work later – as well as a note that said;

_Good morning Supernova! _

_Off to work! Hope you have a magnificent day! See you later!_

_Lots of love!_

_Sophie xx_

The excited young teen opened the garage and retrieved her orange Vespa. After closing the big doors, she put on her white helmet that had a rainbow in the middle of it, started the engine and drove to the agency.

Luckily, the location was only a forty-minute drive from Sophie's home, so she parked her Vespa in a safe place, close to a market where it was bustling with people, and walked around in areas nearby the agency, such as the Capitol Monument. While looking at the beautiful trees, she heard her ringtone from her Samsung S4 which was the opening of Guns N' Roses' _Sweet Child O' Mine_. She quickly got it out of her side pocket and responded;

"Hello, Sophie speaking?"

"Is this Sophie Jays?"

"Yes, it is, to whom am I conversing with?"

"This is Lance Sterling. Mr. Connery has asked me to meet you in the market where you passed."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I'm on my way now!"

But before she could run, he said;

"No need, you're actually close."

"What do you mea-?" and she saw that the super-spy was on top of a tree, swang to the next one, and made a perfect landing on the ground. Sophie ended the call while looking in amazement. She also noticed that he had a microphone on his left ear. She thought, "_I guess that's how he takes calls._"

"Yeah I know, I get that a lot," he said with a chuckle.

"Mr. Lance Sterling?" she asked.

"The one and only."

"Nice to meet you, sir," she extended her right hand while smiling. At this point, his one hand was back to normal at its right size.

He returned the gesture, "Nice to meet you."

"As I understand from the post about the two jobs, there is a secret entrance around here to the agency. I take it that's where we're going?"

"Yes, that's correct. Follow me."

"_Smart kid,_" he thought.

The two walked up to the statue of Abraham Lincoln.

"Now we just have to wait a bit till no one sees us here," said the spy.

"How come?"

"You'll see," he said with a grin.

While waiting he asked Sophie, "So where are you from?"

"From South Africa."

"Really? Pardon me but your accent-"

"Yeah," she giggled. "I get that a lot."

Sterling gave a short laugh.

She continued, "It sounds British yet we're not from England. I really hope to go there someday."

"You'll get your chance."

"Thanks."

About fifteen minutes passed and there was no soul near the sculpture.

"Come here," said the spy. And he led her to the figure's left side where they were close to the ropes surrounding the tall figurine. He leaned his watch on the wall for a scanning verification. The barrier rapidly turned into a doorway that opened sideways. There was nothing but black on the other side.

"After you," he said, giving a hand gesture as if saying welcome.

"Whoa," she said while going in.

"I know right?"

The door closed behind them. Everything was dark.

"Where exactly are we walking to?" she asked curiously.

"You'll see," he smiled.

Then they came across a huge blue-colored transparent round travel tube.

"Meet you at the bottom," and the spy climbed up and rode down.

"Oh boy…" Sophie said in slight nervousness.

She approached the shape and went down through it. She screamed in joy during the ride and stopped when the tube was taking her through the whole agency. It was packed with people doing various jobs, such as typing, walking around, getting coffee, testing a gadget, and more.

Eventually, the ride concluded when it slowed down and the young girl prepared her landing. It turned out not to be necessary, for, at the end of the tunnel, it showed a long, rectangular and see-through soft platform to make it easier for everyone to climb off. Sophie observed the room in bewilderment after getting off and witnessed that in front of her were six white open spherical doorways. She looked behind to see that they were six end-cylinders to match with the numerous doors and pathways. She exited the room and once again perceived in utter astonishment the size of the agency. From where she was looking, it was like a humongous baseball field!

"Over here Ms. Jays!" called a familiar voice.

Sophie saw that the spy was a couple of metres away waving at her. She approached him while eye-exploring in awe and where she was going as to not haphazardly bump into anyone.

"What do you think?"

"C'est incroyable," she said.

"Oh you speak French?" he said in a surprised tone.

"A little," she smiled. "I did take it for a year in high school."

"Perhaps you can teach me what you know, it could be handy for my missions."

"Yes absolutely."

Sterling raised his watch that said ten-thirty.

"Hey, we better get you to Mr. Connery, your meeting is in thirty minutes."

"Then we gotta move," she said enthusiastically.

The spy guided her to a flight of stairs. On top of it displayed a big hallway with many doors.

"Mr. Connery's office is three doors down to the right, number zero-seven."

"Got it, thanks so much for everything."

"Good luck!"

"Merci."

And Sophie proceeded to the room where she needed to be. She knocked then heard a gentle yet strong voice.

"Come in!"

Sophie entered and saw a pretty red-headed woman who looked like a dead ringer for Emma Stone, working what appeared to be as a secretary. The space had the appearance of being light-blue and white with six black chairs opposite each other.

After Sophie approached her she politely asked; "Hello, Sophie Jays to see . We have an eleven o' clock meeting."

"Let me check…Hey, you're nice and early, it's now ten forty-five, you want to wait here? He's busy with another client."

"Yes, thank you, Ms…?"

"Goode," she smiled. "Haley Goode."

"Nice to meet you." And she motioned her right hand. It was a good and firm handshake.

"Likewise."

"I'll just sit over there," said Sophie.

Haley gave her a thumbs up and grin while Sophie found a nice place to sit. She got out her large black handbag and searched through its contents. At last, she had a medium sketchbook on her one hand and a thin black fineliner pen on the other and began to draw the painting in front of her. It was a beautiful portrait of two painted mares galloping on the shallowest section in the seawater at a beach. About fifteen minutes flew by and Sophie was nearly done with her artistic interpretation of the picture when she heard a door open. Then the sound of footsteps going forward and stopping came to her.

"Nice drawing," a male voice said graciously.

She bent upwards to see what appeared to be a Taron Egerton doppelganger – except that he had emerald eyes – grinning at her.

"Oh thank you," she said.

"You're welcome, what are you in for?"

"I'm here to see Mr. Connery for a meeting. Hopefully, I'll get the jobs that I applied here for," she said in an optimistic glance.

"And they are?" he asked inquisitively.

"Mail-room delivery girl and PA to almost everyone here, even the spies."

"Good luck Ms…?"

"Jays. Sophie Jays," she said confidently then laughed. He responded with a chuckle too.

"Thanks, Mr…?"

"Barker. Steve Barker," he replied in a similar manner.

The two shook hands then he started to walk to the door.

"A pleasure meeting you Ms. Jays," he said after opening the entrance.

"Yeah you too," she smiled.

He grinned back and closed the door behind him.

"Sophie, Mr. Connery is ready to see you now," said Haley.

"Okay thank you so much," she said. Before she entered the next room, she entertained the thought;

"_Steve looks…interesting_."

"Ah welcome Ms. Jays! Please have a seat," came the calm and excited tone of the boss himself.

"Thank you, sir."

The area was almost like what a real office looks like, except that it was small and had large, blue transparent windows where anyone in the space can see the other people going on their business at the bottom floor.

The whole meeting took less than thirty minutes. Sophie was amazed that she didn't feel an ounce of slight concern while being interviewed. She ensured that she was her best self while answering 's questions. His queries mainly consisted of her background, her current activities such as often helping her mother out with proofreading, making videos for her clients, and time-to-time bookkeeping. The boss was even surprised that Sophie took French for a year at high school, to which she claimed;

"To be honest, it feels like at the moment, I only know about five to ten percent of French. But I watch a lot of foreign movies, including French. My mom and I sometimes speak and play the language with each other, and I often go back to my books for recap purposes and learn something new from them."

Mr. Connery – whose attire included black and white Nike sneakers, midnight blue suit, and a white-collar long-sleeve shirt matched with a black tie, and who looked like Ed Helms by the way – was rather impressed by this young teenage girl. He then asked her why she wanted to work at the location, to which she responded with great enthusiasm that she loves to help people, whether it is a small or big task and role, and that she feels really happy to see the joy on people's faces. He could sense that she was hard-working, friendly, and eager to work at the agency.

"Thank you so much Ms. Jays for your time and diligence. I'll let you know tomorrow for further news about the job positions."

He stood up from his large black chair and leaned forward for a handshake. She also replied by standing up from her medium-sized black chair to return the gesture while smiling widely.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"Have a great day Ms. Jays."

"Thank you and you too sir," she said gently and kindly.

He nodded respectfully as to repeat her gratitude just before Sophie grinned and left his office.

"Hey, how'd it go?" asked Haley in a pleasant fashion.

"Fantastic, thanks."

"Will we see you again?"

"I optimistically think so, Mr. Connery said he'll keep me posted."

"Oh, that's great!"

"Yeah, I know. I must get going but I hope we can meet again in better circumstances."

"I'm sure we will," smiled Haley.

Before Sophie exited the room, she softly exclaimed, "Bye Haley, was awesome meeting you!"

"Ditto!"

The young girl was walking down the enormous hallway. Before going down the flight of stairs, she saw a recognizable face at the center of it.

"Hey, how was it?" asked Sterling.

"Was great thanks," she grinned.

"Mr. Connery has requested me to escort you back."

"Oh," she said in a stunned tone. "He told you that just now?"

"Yes, why? Is there a problem?"

"No no, not at all. I'm just…flabberghasted at the speed of which news seems to spread around here."

"Yeah well, some things you gotta handle fast."

"Yes," she agreed.

"Come on, let's get going."

"Right behind you," she said.

The super-spy led her to a nearby elevator after walking down the set of steps. The lift had a gorgeous color scheme of grey and glowing cyan fused together. The elevator doors were about to close when all of a sudden came a loud shout.

"Agent Sterling! Wait wait!"

Immediate surprise showed on both Sterling and Sophie's faces. The yelping young man just made it into the lift with his pink bag blocking the doors. He hung onto it tightly but 3 seconds later it flew, releasing numerous objects into the air, such as a banana and a colorful pen. Because of the heaving, he lost his balance and was instantly down to the floor, almost barely recovering from what just happened. The elevator continued to go down to the ground floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" said Sophie, bending down to help him up.

"Ahh," he said with his eyes clenched shut and his left hand on his head to massage the minor pain.

"Yeah," then he opened his liquid-blue eyes, "I'm…" he paused. Sophie was looking at him worryingly with her big, beautiful and compassionate brown eyes, while he was gazing at her, totally mesmerized.

She briefly broke a smile, "I said you're okay?" she reiterated her question gently.

He snapped out of his temporary staring stupor and said, "Uh yeah I'm okay thanks," he grinned.

"Here." And she firmly lifted him up with both hands.

"Thank you."

Then he thought to himself, "_No girl has ever done_ _that for me before_."

"You're welcome."

"Are you new here?"

"Eh sort of," she said with a semi-embarrassed look.

"She came in today for her meeting about the jobs she's applied for," said the spy.

"Oh. What jobs?"

"Mail-room delivery girl and PA to almost everyone here," she said.

"Nice," he smiled.

"Walter, can you explain why you had to dash into the elevator like that just now?" asked Sterling impatiently and confusedly.

"Sorry, there's something I really need to get from home."

"Oooh," Sophie said inquisitively. "Can I ask what is it?"

"I'm afraid that's classified," said Walter awkwardly.

"Oh," she replied with a rather disappointed facial expression. "I understand of course. How sad and yet how delicious," she laughed.

"_Wow she has a great laugh!_" thought Walter.

"Oh where are my manners?" she giggled. "I'm Sophie by the way." She extended her right hand. "Sophie Jays."

He thought to himself; "_Sophie…What a beautiful name._"

"W-Walter. Walter Beckett," he responded shyly and returned the gesture.

"Nice to meet you, Walter," she smiled.

"Yeah, likewise," he replied nervously.

On his part, he kept saying to himself to be cool and confident around this new girl. On the other hand, his cute and unexpectedly endearing awkwardness caught Sophie completely unawares.

"Not to interrupt but we're near where we need to be," said Sterling.

"Lance is taking me back to the Lincoln Memorial. Do you want to come with us?" asked the young teen.

Walter couldn't believe what he was hearing! A girl wanting him to come with her!

"Yeah sure, like I said I need to get something from home."

"Awesome," she said.

Suddenly the elevator made a ding sound and opened its doors, to reveal the darkroom where Sophie and Sterling originally entered. The trio then motioned forward. When they got to a wall, the spy put on contact lenses that allowed the viewer to see what was on the other side. There was no human being in plain sight near the figurine, so he scanned his watch and the sideways door appeared once again.

"That is so cool," Sophie said to the young scientist.

"Oh yeah," he agreed.

The two went through the door but noticed that Sterling wasn't joining them.

"This is where I leave you two," grinned the spy.

"Why? Oh. Let me guess. Mission work?" asked Sophie.

"Eh sort of, I'm expecting a call from a colleague in Russia, and I have to be in my office in case there's paperwork he needs."

"Hmm sounds intriguing," she responded.

"See you later Walter, and Sophie, sensational meeting you," he smiled widely.

"Ditto, and thanks again for everything," she said.

"I really hope you get your jobs."

"Me too, thank you."

"See you, sir," said Walter.

All three waved goodbye to each other, and the wall door quickly closed like a lightning bolt. Sophie and Walter looked at each other for a short moment, shrugged and smiled simultaneously, then continued to walk, starting with going down the stairs from the political figure.

While they were passing through the gorgeous Autumn-colored trees. Walter questioned Sophie;

"So where do you live by the way?"

"29 Rose Boulevard, and you?"

"No way! I live in the same neighborhood!" he said in a pleasantly shocked expression.

"No way!" she repeated. "Where?"

"About six houses up, so that is number thirty-five."

"Hi neighbor," she said playfully.

"Hello to you too," he replied in a similar reaction. Both laughed out loud semi-nervously.

"Hey since we live in the same street, why don't you ride with me?"

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah sure."

"That would be awesome, thank you so much, it helps a lot," he said in a grateful tone.

"Help thy neighbor right?" she smiled broadly.

He chuckled at the joke. "Yeah."

The two were going through a busy food street market, and Sophie saw one of her favourite fruits, namely mangoes. Walter noticed her longing look, and glancing in the same direction, grinned while contemplating, "_Maybe I'll buy_ _her some_." But both carried on walking.

"Oh excuse me but your accent-"

"Yeah," she giggled. "I get that a lot." Both laughed.

"I'm originally from South Africa, yet I sound British."

"I like it," he said.

"Aw, thanks."

The two young acquaintances finally made it to where Sophie's Vespa was parked.

Walter involuntarily dropped his jaw, "That thing is yours?"

"You bet it is," she said proudly.

She approached her vehicle to the back seat, opened it, and retrieved a black helmet with green stars on it.

"Here you go," she said, handing the precautionary attire over to him. Walter rested it on top of his messy yet adorable brown hair just when Sophie put her headset on and prepared for lift-off.

"How good are you with bikes like this?" she asked.

"Eh not so great, got a similar one like yours, but I usually travel by jetpack," he said while motioning and took his seat behind her.

"You have a jetpack?!" she asked in a stunned fashion.

"Yip," he said contently.

"You are so lucky, hang tight," and Sophie started the engine and drove in super-speed after ensuring there was no one nearby. Walter did, in fact, hold tight around her stomach. He had never seen anyone drive this fast before. After moderately slowing down, she asked the young tech-genius;

"Can I ask why you don't use your other device of transportation a lot?"

Walter loosened his grip a bit yet still held her close. "Well, for one thing, I like going by jetpack, and second I feel safer with it."

"But don't you get scared that it might explode?"

"Not really, because so far it hasn't had that kind of incident."

"Well if it works for you, then I'm happy," she smiled.

"Thanks, Sophie."

During the passage of many houses in the neighborhood, the young girl was thinking about how to help him conquer his fear of driving his scooter. Then she drove past her beautiful two-storey white house that had a small and gorgeous front garden as well as a red roof.

"That's my place there," she said to her passenger.

"It looks awesome."

"Thank you," she grinned.

He told her when to stop. Eventually, the two made it and parked right opposite Walter's house. It was equally exquisite with beige on the exterior walls and navy blue roofs. There was also what appeared to be a treehouse-esque formation on the upper left side of the house.

"And this is my place," he smiled.

"Looks really pleasant," Sophie said in awe.

"Thanks."

He climbed off the orange Vespa, took off his helmet and gave it back to his gracious, helpful and attractive new friend.

"Thank you so much for the lift," he said in an appreciative tone.

"You're welcome, happy to assist," said Sophie, as she got off her sitting position and returned her spare headgear to its place. When she sat down again, she asked Walter;

"How are you going to get back to the agency?"

"Jetpack of course," he said.

"Oh right," she nodded.

"Well, it was delightful meeting you and everything," she grinned, getting momentarily lost in his eyes.

"Yeah same," he said contently. "I hope you get the jobs you applied for."

"Yeah me too," she said in an optimistic glance.

"Oh, I better get what I need here," said the young scientist, remembering he had to pick something up.

"Oh yes," she chuckled. "See you around Walter."

"Absolutely. Bye Sophie."

She turned her engine on and accelerated while waving at him. He joyfully returned the gesture and watched as she drove to her home. He kept staring at her vanishing silhouette like a love-struck deer.

"Sophie…" he said dreamily and headed inside to fetch what he was searching for with a jubilant expression on his face.

**Author's Note; ****I hope you guys liked reading this as much as me writing it. Now that Sophie has met many wonderful people in the spy agency, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter!  
**

**What do you guys think? Please comment, and thank you very x2 much for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it deeply and greatly!**


	3. Leisure Time & Dinner Discussions

**Author's Note; ****Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! **

Since Sophie had nothing else significant to do for the rest of the day, except to buy a few essential groceries, she could do anything she wanted. The first thing that came to her mind was to read the book she was currently reading; Jules Verne's _20 000 Leagues Under the Sea_. After she parked at the same location close to the food market, Sophie raised her left arm to check the time. It was already two in the afternoon.

"_Great, so I'll read for a short while before I go to get some food goodies!_" she thought to herself.

The young woman felt like being in nature and reading at the same time, so she walked to the beautiful orange trees again, and found a dappled-shade spot to sit on the bright green grass. While enjoying her underwater adventure novel, Sophie felt the sun's warmth on her olive skin.

Sophie put an alarm on her phone to remind herself to not get completely lost in the literary world where she was in. By the time it was two forty-five, the alert blared out the song _Du Hast _by Rammstein.

"That's it for now," she said. She packed her book into her handbag, stood up, took one last glance at the trees and the number of people around, and proceeded through the market to the parking space.

She drove to the closest supermarket and purchased a couple of items, such as apples, a litre of cream, broccoli, cucumbers, and a packet of mince. All of it was put inside a plastic bag which Sophie placed in a bigger shopping bag that was neon green and white striped.

Afterward, she headed straight to her house. Sophie was quite amazed that she didn't feel a tinge of exhaustion, well she didn't since she felt energetic and fabulous the whole day anyway. She went to the kitchen to pack the new food in the fridge and freezer – for the mince – and went upstairs to her room. She checked her watch which said four-twenty as well as saw a message from her mom that she was coming home with a surprise dinner.

She gently collapsed on her bed. It had a cherry red bed-sheet, cyan pillowcases, and the duvet cover was a brilliant gold hue.

Sophie thought to herself about the awesome day she had today. The interview, and the introductions of many wonderful and fascinating people; Lance Sterling, Haley Goode, Steve Barker, Daniel Connery, and especially Walter Beckett.

It was around five in the afternoon when Sophie was in the mood for a movie, so she went down the black wooden stairs to the lounge where the TV was located. It is also the first room on the right when a person enters the house by the way. She looked at her massive DVD collection. Eventually, Sophie chose _The Sound of Music _and began to watch it at a far distance. One vital note to know is that the young woman is near-sighted, so she doesn't need her black _Kingsman_-esque glasses when she's reading but when its objects far away, such as a human being in an office desk from a longer distance, that's another story. When Sophie reached her favourite scene; the Laendler sequence where the main character Maria and Captain Von Trapp dance to, she heard the front door open.

"Honey, I'm home!" said Cindy comically and joyfully.

Sophie grabbed the remote, paused the movie, and approached her mother with a loving hug and kiss.

"Hello Supernova!"

"How did everything go today?" asked her mom.

"Absolutely fantastic!" Sophie proclaimed. "I'll tell you all about it later, how was your day?"

"Equally fabulous! I've got us something really niice!" her mother said enthusiastically and in singsong mode.

"What, what, what?" asked her daughter, grinning widely.

Her mother held a plastic bag high up. It had a pitch-black color with a beautiful horse covered in glowing flames.

"No, you didn't," Sophie said playfully.

"Oh, yes I did," Cindy said in the same tone.

"Oh, my word! Thank you so much darling!" exclaimed the young woman.

What was in the bag were two bright orange and black spotted takeaway packages that contained crumbed chicken strips, thin sweet potato chips, and a lettuce and cucumber salad with thick red and green pepper slices.

Mother and daughter were having an enjoyable supper while also conversing about their events of the day. Sophie ecstatically talked about the thrill of going near the Lincoln Memorial, meeting Lance Sterling, the travel tube, seeing the colossal size of the agency, meeting Haley Goode, Steve Barker and Daniel Connery, how the interview with the latter went, meeting Walter Beckett in the elevator with Sterling, getting to know the young scientist while walking together, her offer to give him a lift home – she also mentioned that he didn't live very far away from them – and lastly her reading time outside and her purchase of a few items.

Cindy was very happy that Sophie had a beautiful day. Then it was her turn to speak about her day. She talked about something that happened during one of her counselling sessions. She met an interesting yet troubled man, who has a fourteen-year-old daughter named Jenna from a previous marriage, and a new girlfriend called Harriet. His problem was how to divide time for both of them. Sophie found the whole discussion captivating. How can a woman like Harriet ever understand the times when a child needs either their mother or father, or both parents, when the woman herself has never had a kid of her own? Sophie said in her mind, "_I wonder if Harriet is the selfish and clingy type. I really hope not."_ The rest of Cindy's day consisted of drawing an additional section based on her client's demands in the interior design department. She managed to finish it in less than two hours. Since she had one hour left of work time, she decided to retrieve her portable drawing board and sketch something beautiful.

Sophie asked her creative and talented mother what kind of art she was making. She only pointed out that it was not ready yet for viewers. Sophie understood, yet she was very excited to see when the time would come for her to witness it first-hand.

After dinner and cleaning up together, the two headed straight for their respective bedrooms. Both lovingly said good night and sweet dreams to each other before closing their doors.

Sophie switched from her day clothes into her black and white-dotted pajamas and gently landed on her sleeping location. Before she lost complete consciousness, Sophie couldn't stop thinking about the exciting events that happened today. She was also in high hopes about her job applications. She would only find out tomorrow for further news. She grabbed her book and read a couple of pages before she turned off her small auburn-colored lamp and rested her eyes, delving deep into the world of dreams.

Outside, there was a sound of approaching whooshing gas. Walter had just come out of the agency from late working hours and was travelling by jet pack. He spotted and went to Sophie's house. Then he saw a slightly open window and went softly toward it. It was there when he dreamily observed Sophie, who was dozing deeply and smiling. He said to himself that she looks beautiful and peaceful in her sleep. After his long gazing, Walter flew to his home with a big grin on his face.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. Now that Sophie is done for the day, what will happen next? Will she get the jobs? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it! **


	4. More Good News

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry it took long but life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!  
**  
Sophie woke up just after ten in the morning. She got out of bed, drank a bit of water, did her morning stretch routine, and went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. When she reached to the kettle, she saw an adorable, small attached light-green note. She took it off and read the following;

_Good morning Starlight!_

_Off to work! See you later darling!_

_Love Mom XXX_

Sophie smiled at her mother's loving message and continued to boil the kettle for a cup of tea. Afterward, she cut one piece of a Pink Lady apple, pear, and peach, as well as half a croissant which she put a slice of salted butter and cheddar inside, and placed it all on a plate that had a beautiful picture of two grey wolves in a snowy landscape. She sat at the table and ate joyfully, thinking back to Thursday's events. Then Sophie heard an email notification from her phone. She retrieved it from one of her warm blue denim pajama jacket pockets and read what it had to say. Her eyes widened in utter surprise. It was an approval-type of message from Mr. Connery himself, telling her that she got the jobs! Felix the cat was on top of the lounge couch while the young teen was reading her virtual letter.

"YIPPEE!" she shouted in an ecstatic tone.

While jumping up and down and doing a _Crash Bandicoot_ victory dance, she said;

"Felix, I got it!"

She repeated the last three words at least five times. Poor Felix was getting dizzy watching his co-owner cheerfully bouncing non-stop, and placed his right paw on his head to express his light-headedness.

"_Oh honey I'm so happy!_" she excitedly quoted from one of her and Cindy's favourite films; _Mrs. Doubtfire_.

The email also said that Sophie will have to report to the agency the next day at ten-thirty, in order to know what is expected of her, meet some of the people face-to-face of whom she'll be working closely with – which she and Mr. Connery briefly discussed in yesterday's meeting – as well as a guided tour of the location by one of the spies. Sophie entertained the thought about which agent was going to lead her around the whole agency. Everything was incredibly thrilling for her! She couldn't wait to get started tomorrow!

To celebrate herself with the awesome news, she found her Bluetooth speaker on top of the fridge, went to her phone's music playlist, and put in full volume a teen-rock song, to which she sang along and danced to;

_We know how to dare, we know how to dream__  
__Tonight is the night__  
__What we wanna be we'll be__  
__We're gonna make it through__  
__Let's conquer the fears, take every chance__  
__Hold back the tears__  
__What we wanna be, we'll be__  
__We're gonna make it through_

_Out of our heads__  
__Into our hearts__  
__Close to the edge__  
__Ready to start__  
__And it's so good__  
__Dancin' on the air, it feels so good__  
__Nothin' can compare__  
__'Cause the beat in our hearts__  
__It's the beat of the charts__  
__Like a spotlight we're cutting through__  
__It feels so good__  
__Shining here in front of you  
__Give everything, and don't be afraid__  
__Be true to yourself__  
__If you wanna live forever__  
__You're gonna make it through x2  
__Out of our heads__  
__Into our hearts__  
__Close to the edge__  
__Ready to start  
And it's so good_

_(x2)__  
__Dancin' on the air, it feels so good__  
__Nothin' can compare__  
__'Cause the beat in our hearts__  
__It's the beat of the charts__  
__Like a spotlight we're cutting through__  
__It feels so good_

_Shining here in front of you__  
__It feels so good (so so good)__  
__Shining here in front of you (shining here in front of you)_

_(x2)__  
__Dancin' on the air it feels so good__  
__Nothin' can compare__  
__'Cause the beat in our hearts__  
__It's the beat of the charts__  
__Like a spotlight we're cutting through__  
__It feels so good_

_Shining here in front of you_

Sophie unsurprisingly didn't feel tired at all after the singing, dancing, and rocking to the music. For the rest of the day, she was in her pajamas, working, researching and relaxing in between. The one moment she is cleaning her mother's room, out of love and surprise, then discovering books for her blog that are in a particular age the next, such as Anthony Doerr's novel _All the Light We Cannot See_ that is five years old this year, 2019 to be precise. Sophie thought it looked really interesting. The summary was about the friendship between a blind French girl and a German boy during the harsh times of World War II. Since she hasn't read it yet, she put it on the list of books to get and read, as well as an electronic countdown to discuss in her blog. In terms of relaxation, Sophie sang and danced around the house to various types of music, such as Carl Orff's _O Fortuna_ in the classical genre, to something rock-n-roll, like a track called _Aftermath_, from the _Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi_ soundtrack.

The whole day for Sophie felt like it went very fast. It was between 4 and 6 in the afternoon that she was proofreading some of her mother's articles that consisted of many topics, such as forest bathing, how your brain is one of the most powerful machines and tools you control, how your skin is the biggest organ and what a human being can do to ensure that it stays forever beautiful and comfortable in the right and eco-friendly way, and other stories related to nature and beauty.

Sophie then heard the front door opening and closing. She rushed out of her mother's room and gave her a surprise hug and kiss.

"Hello, darling!" Cindy said to her daughter.

"Welcome home mommy!" she replied lovingly.

"How was your day?"

"Fantastic thanks and yours?"

"The same," smiled Cindy.

Sophie said in a singsong tone; "I've got a surprise for you…" then said in her normal voice; "Well, more than one really." She ended her sentence with a giggle.

"Oooh what is it?" said Cindy inquisitively and excitedly.

"First, check your room, then look on your desk," said Sophie.

Cindy put her handbag on the table and ascended the stairs to her bedroom. What she saw completely astounded her! Her room was squeaky clean! Full of sparkles and neatness!

"Aww thank you so much, sweetheart!" Cindy said in a grateful tone.

"You're very welcome darling…but that's not all."

Her mother looked at her, confused. Sophie pointed to Cindy's desk. She saw a small stack of papers. Every article was highlighted in red, to show grammar mistakes, and green to display the improvements, and each topic was stapled together.

Cindy rushed to her daughter to give her a bouncy hug while uttering the following words ten times fast;

"Thank you!"

Sophie was giggling during the big hug, and said;

"You're so welcome, Supernova."

Later that night, Sophie and her mother had a delicious supper; which was homemade mince cakes, steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, and a little side portion of mango atchar to go with the meat. The two had a wonderful evening. Most of their discussions were about the events of the day. Sophie enthusiastically told Cindy that she got the applied jobs and that she was going straight to work tomorrow. Her mother reacted with great astonishment and pride;

"Oh, darling I'm so happy and proud of you!"

"Thanks so much, mom," smiled the young girl.

When Sophie asked how was work at both sides, Cindy replied that nothing much happened in the therapy department, however, she did manage to accomplish some tasks during her interior design hours, such as continuing with the mysterious sketch that she told her daughter about, as well as getting a seemingly friendly and promising partner for a new design project. One of the project's aspects was to include a large indoor swimming pool that can be hot or cold, depending on the mood of people who want to have a dip in the pool.

The green clock above the red stove showed it was nine p.m. on the dot. It was around the time that mother and daughter finished dining for the night, and headed to bed. After cleaning up, the two lovingly said goodnight and sweet dreams to each other and went into their rooms. Before Sophie rested her eyes, she prayed that everything on Saturday was going to be splendid and fabulous, but she was positive in that she knew she was going to have an exciting following day.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. The song is So Good by _Bratz Rock Angelz_. Now that Sophie has the jobs, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	5. Saturday Shift

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry it took long but life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!**

Sophie woke up at 7 with a big smile on her face. Her morning routine went like this;

7 – 7:10; a couple of morning stretches

7:10 – 7:33; shower

7:33 – 7:45; Pick clothes for the day (red Converse All-Star sneakers, semi-tight black jeans, pale yellow T-shirt, unbuttoned cyan and black checkered over-shirt, red rose earrings, and _Captain America _shield necklace)

7:45 – 8:00; prepare breakfast (Tea, Pink Lady apple, half a pear, cucumber salad with seed mix, feta, olive oil, and grinded pepper)

8:00 – 8:40; Have a jolly good breakfast.

Sophie later looked at the green kitchen clock that said eight-fifty. Calm and careful, she quickly cleaned up, took out her mother's favourite mug – the puppy one – as well as stuck an orange-colored sticky note on the kettle with a loving message, ran softly and swiftly to the front door and closed it. She retrieved her Vespa from the garage, locked the storage space, and drove in a super-speed fashion, after checking for the traffic of course.

Sophie parked at the exact same location as last time, and proceeded through the area where there was another market, only this time, it was vintage clothing. She checked her rainbow watch that said nine-thirty. Then she spotted the beautiful Autumn-colored trees and the distant Capitol Monument again, as well as a familiar person's back. She approached the figure who was sitting on a bench.

"Mr. Barker?"

He turned his head to face her. "Ah, Ms. Jays hello," then he stood up.

"Hi."

"Since we're colleagues, you can call me Steve."

"All right, Steve. What brings you here?"

"Why I'm your tour guide," he smiled.

"My what?"

"You heard it correctly."

"Wow. So which way to the agency or is it by the Lincoln Memorial again?"

"Oh no, don't worry about that, it's all prepared."

"How do you mean?"

"Follow me."

They past all the orange-colored trees, and were in a massive open field.

"We're here," he said.

The teen saw that he was actually speaking on a microphone attached to his left ear. Minutes later, there came a sound of an incoming helicopter. The whole thing was black with one thick white stripe. The door on its right side opened wide. Sophie and Steve walked toward it. Steve offered his hand so that Sophie could climb in easily before he got inside. The seats were ghost-white and really comfortable. The pilot instructed them to fasten their seat belts before lifting off. Sophie never flew by helicopter before so this was a very intriguing and fun experience for her. It was heading to a colossal green mountain. When they reached close to it, there was a rock formation that opened upwards. Once they got inside, the structure steadily closed. Lights immediately turned on to reveal a huge grey base. Everyone climbed off the vehicle. Sophie gazed in amazement. Steve noticed and said with a laugh;

"Incredible isn't it?"

"Oh yeah," she said in a surprising tone.

"Let the tour commence," he said, grinning widely. Sophie followed him through the landing base, a flight of stairs where there were two big grey doors. Like a gentleman, Steve opened the one on the right.

"Miss Jays," he said with a hand gesture.

"Why, thank you, sir," she said playfully.

One by one they entered and came across the huge area of H. T. U. V. They were on the third floor where many people were passing by each other. Sophie went to the stainless steel railing to get a better look. She widened her eyes again in astonishment. She could see the second floor where everyone was walking, getting coffee or water by the machines, carrying stacks of paper or briefcases, and other activities. From below, she saw that some were typing in their desktops and laptops and even typewriters, walking, going up and down in blue and green transparent elevators, etc.

Steve proceeded to where Sophie was. "Yeah, I know."

Sophie laughed. "So, where do we get started?" she smiled excitedly.

The spy guided her to another set of steps where they went down and were walking past the many rooms. Then they bumped into recognizable and surprised faces.

"Oh hello guys," grinned Sterling. "Congrats on getting the jobs, Sophie." He extended his right hand.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Sterling," said the young girl who returned the gesture with big smiles.

"You got it?" asked Walter who was standing beside Sterling.

"Yip!"

"That's awesome! Congrats!"

"Thanks!"

Steve cut in the conversation. "Not to interrupt but we should continue with the tour."

"Oh yes. I hope I see you guys later?"

"Probably," replied Sterling.

"What he said," the young scientist smiled.

Steve and Sophie exchanged goodbyes and proceeded to the nearest escalator. While they were walking, Sterling noticed that Walter wasn't joining him, for he was looking at something else.

"Uh, Walter?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Yeah?" responded the boy while still glancing at Sophie dotingly.

The super-spy turned to where the tech-genius was looking and softly chuckled.

"You've got it bad," he teased.

"Huh, what?" said the young scientist, getting back into reality.

"Never mind. Come on, we've got work to do."

"Got it, sir."

While walking behind Sterling, his eyes went to Sophie again, who was going down the escalator with Steve. Her appearance, her clothes, her personality, everything about her was beautiful to him, as far as he knew her. Suddenly his mind was playing a song when she glanced back at Walter above and gave a smile.

_When I see you smile  
I can face the world,  
Oh oh, you know I can do anything  
When I see you smile  
I see a ray of light,  
Oh oh, I see it shining right through the rain  
When I see you smile  
Oh yeah, baby when I see you smile at me_

During the song, he also saw her grinning and laughing at certain moments, until she was nowhere in sight.

So far Steve has shown Sophie many rooms on different floors that consisted of a communications room where they speak to colleagues from all over the world, whether it is by video call or staff meeting, training rooms such as underwater tests, virtual reality like shooting, a writing room where there was a huge display of computers, at least seven of them in many rows, where people can search on the internet for business purposes only, as well as typing letters to many people across the globe, the mail room – which actually was a pretty sight, having a color scheme of blue, grey and white – where Sophie will find numerous amounts of letters to deliver to people in a postman-style and many others. Steve also introduced to her some of the people that she'll be working closely with. She was very surprised that most of them were very friendly to her. Afterward, Steve stopped and said to her;

"Hey, is it all right if someone else leads you to the science department? I need to urgently go on a mission."

"Yeah, that's absolutely fine. Can I ask what your mission is about?"

"Let's just say it involves calm persuasion to an unreasonable leader."

"Oh," she laughed.

"You are to meet the other guide in one of the training rooms that we've just seen. About less than an hour from now."

"Duly noted. Thank you so much for all the help today," she expressed in gratitude.

He smiled, "You're welcome." But before he went to the other direction he asked her; "Do you like karaoke?"

Sophie's eyes widened. "I love karaoke!"

"Great! Do you know a place called Mustangs?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I go there."

"Do you want to be my singing competitor there on say Monday night at six?"

That is two days from now.

"Totally!"

"Cool. I'll meet you there at the time?"

"Yip," she grinned.

"See you then!"

Sophie nodded and off he went to where he needed to go.

_Cool, I've got a promising karaoke buddy_, she thought. Sophie checked her watch that said one p.m. She thought she'd wanted to get there early, so she walked to the nearest elevator, pressed the button that said _Underwater Training _and down she went. The lift made a ding sound and opened its doors. She went outside and found herself in a beautiful and massive room full of shades of blue. In front of her were many huge windows that showed numerous agents doing various tasks in the water, such as taming wild sharks, testing out a gadget that allows the user to breathe in the water, for how many hours the teen didn't know.

Sophie glanced at her watch that said two p.m.

"_Where could the other guide be?_" she contemplated.

Finally, the elevator opened. She turned to see who just came through the doors.

"Walter?"

"Sophie, hey," said the young scientist, trying to look cool in her presence.

"What a surprise," she said. "Did Steve ask you to show me around in the science department?"

"That he did."

"Cool," she said.

"Shall we?"

"Let's shall," she chuckled.

Walter made an offering gesture with his right hand. Sophie went in first followed by the young scientist. He pressed on a button that said _Science Lab_.

While they were waiting, Sophie asked him;

"How have you been by the way?"

"Great thanks, and you? Been working on many things lately."

"Fantastic thank you. Oooh, am I allowed a secret peek when it's ready?" she asked.

"Maybe," he smiled.

Then Sophie noticed a section of his bag partially unzipped. What she saw looked like the spine of a book.

"Can I ask about that book you have in your bag?"

"Oh yeah. It's chemistry stuff."

"Are you planning to be an alchemist or something?" she chuckled.

Walter laughed at her joke then made a thoughtful expression. "That doesn't sound too far off. Thanks for the idea," he teased.

"You're welcome."

The two laughed loudly.

"Can I have a look at it please?"

"Sure." He got the book out and handed it over to her. The title was _Biochemistry for Dummies_. Sophie giggled and said to Walter; "You're not a dummy to me."

"Thanks," he blushed. Sophie did not notice his cheeks were going pink. He was grateful for that, for he didn't want her to see him in an awkward position.

Sophie skimmed the pages, looking at intriguing passages and pictures. She found some parts of it very interesting, especially with the works of the body.

She gave the book back to him. "Looks fascinating."

"Yeah it is," he grinned. "Did you take science at school?"

"Yes but not in high school. I find science to be amazing and intriguing at the same time."

"Science rocks," he grinned while making a cool pose with both of his hands. Sophie laughed.

"It also makes me think of the beautiful stars, anything in astronomy, the human body and its cells…it's all incredible."

"Oh yeah".

"What do you do when you're not on crazy-scientist mode?" she said.

He laughed. "Hmm, a couple of stuff. Like reading, testing out new things, watching movies and series like Korean romantic soap operas, listening to music-"

"Oooh, who's your favourite band? The first one that pops into your head."

But before he can gladly answer, the elevator made a ding sound. The doors opened to reveal a humongous room full of science-related aspects. Walter made a hand gesture as to say you first, and Sophie exited the lift with him following behind her. Once again, she was gazing at total astonishment, looking around the whole place. It was grey all over with some sections of blue in the panels, such as a glowing blue behind many outfits shown on the left side.

"Welcome to the lab," said Walter.

"Whoa…" she said, still looking around.

The young scientist descended the stairs with Sophie accompanying him. He was secretly ecstatic that she was with him in his work department, which she was completely unaware of.

"It's here where we test out gadgets and come up with new ones."

"It's amazing," she said in awe.

Sophie was finally happy that she got to see Walter's working environment. The two were passing through some white tables that had various objects and people who were either thinking about what to do with them or writing down ideas for their usage to humans. Most colleagues noticed Sophie and the fact that she was very new here. She put on a friendly grin and waved, not wanting to disturb them in case they were very busy. Some responded joyfully while a few didn't.

"Is everyone sweet around here?" she whispered to Walter.

"Some are and some aren't," he replied in the same tone.

"Okay. Good to know," she said in relief.

They made it to a grey room full of items. On the one side of the door-less entrance was a name written in a silver background; _W. Beckett_. Sophie thought the handwriting was quite neat yet cute.

"This is where you work?" she asked.

"Yip," he grinned. He went inside with Sophie following him. She glanced around the whole room. There was a white table, a small dark wooden bookcase where it contained a couple of books and stacks of paper, a coat and bag hanger, and a storage closet that can hold many objects inside.

"You like it?" he asked, noticing her looking around.

"Yeah," she smiled, showing her teeth. Then she saw a normal-looking black pen lying on the table and approached it.

"Be careful! That's not an ordinary pen," he warned her.

"How come?"

"It's a laser pen," he said awkwardly.

Sophie's eyes enlarged and casually and gently set it down back where it was.

"You should put a label on it, in case of accidents," she said in a clumsy giggle.

"Good idea," he said. Then Walter turned to a crimson-colored bag. "I'd be happy to show you that." He pointed to the item.

"Is it safe?" she asked cautiously.

"So far yes," he reassured her.

"Okay. I'll take your word for it," she said.

The young scientist went to where his bag was, put both straps over his shoulders, and exited the room. He was looking at Sophie while she was giving him a concerned look. He pressed a button on a gadget that had the appearance of a square watch on his left wrist. Next thing he knew, he was floating a few feet from the ground! The smoke sounded like whooshing gas. Sophie realized that it was the jet-pack he was telling her about. She had an astounded expression on her face. Walter ascended higher in the air for a few minutes then decided to rotate in another direction. The bag was reaching close to another room. Walter quickly stopped it with a press of a button on his watch and landed clumsily on his feet. He steadied himself before Sophie ran to him.

"You all right?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, this happens at times."

"I like your jet-pack," she smiled.

His eyes widened. "You do?"

"Yes, and it's awesome that you actually built it in your bag. Now you can go wherever you want with it while still having stuff inside," she said in an enthusiastic tone.

"That's the beauty of it."

Walter later showed Sophie the rest of the science lab, such as a big room where they tested the gadgets, not only for themselves but for the other field agents obviously. On the one side, there was a long rectangular window placed in a horizontal fashion. About three people were by the window, observing one of the scientists in the testing room. She had the appearance of a forty-something blonde with Aquamarine eyes who was also wearing a white lab coat. On the brown wooden table in front of her, lay an ordinary-looking pencil. The top side of it had an unusual bump. She pressed it and sprinted to one of the doors that lead to the room where the window was. The pencil was still on the table. Suddenly it beeped louder then caused a small but powerful explosion. Everyone including the blonde scientist scribbled on their notebooks, such as the pros and cons of the pencil bomb.

During the whole tour, Sophie and Walter had a great time, not just him showing her the ropes around the science department, but also got to know each other a bit, such as the fact that Walter is a year older than Sophie, him being twenty and her being nineteen.

By the time it was five-thirty in the afternoon, everybody in the agency prepared themselves to go home.

"Well I'll be heading home now."

"Yeah, okay, cool," said Walter, hiding the fact that he wished they could have more time together. "I still have work to do here before I'm done for the day. Shall I walk with you to the main hub?"

"I would like that."

The two went up the set of steps and into the elevator. This time, Sophie pressed on a button; _Lobby_. It took about roughly five minutes before the doors opened to reveal their chosen destination. The two made their way to one of the travel tube rooms, which turned out to be the exact same one that Sophie entered when she first arrived at H. T. U. V.

"By the way, thanks for everything today. The tour, the gadgets, all of it. I loved every bit of it," she said.

"You're welcome," said Walter, whose cheeks turned soft pink.

Before Sophie climbed on the platform, he hugged her. This caught her in surprise, then she gladly hugged him back. After that brief moment, they let go of each other, and Sophie laid down on her back with her feet very close to the tunnel. The two waved at each other before the young girl pressed on a button and flew like a rocket through the tube. Sophie enjoyed the ride of course. It began to slow down, then revealed the other side. She climbed off and spotted a bright yellow door handle in a very dark room. She opened it and got out. She turned around to see that she actually came out of a mechanic yet realistic-looking auburn tree that was quite nearby the other rows of orange trees by the Capitol Monument. She started to walk from where she was, passed the other trees, a small lake, and found herself proceeding through the vintage clothing market. At last, she made it to her Vespa and drove at fast speed after checking the traffic.

Sophie was astounded to see that her mom was back home early for a change. Later that evening, mother and daughter had a delightful dinner that consisted of homemade quiche and aioli as well as some steamed spinach, fresh from the garden – one of Cindy's zen and proudest of places to go.

An hour later, the two cleaned up the kitchen and went straight to their respective rooms. After loving word exchanges of "good night_" _and_ "_love you so much_" _from both of them, Sophie took off her clothes and switched to her _Wonder Woman_ onesie. She turned off her main lights, climbed into bed, put her lamp on, and read a couple of pages from her novel. About fifteen minutes later, Sophie thanked God for everything that was beautiful, wonderful, and blissful about today's events, closed her eyes, and lost complete consciousness.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. The song is When I See You Smile by _Bad English_. Steve has asked Sophie for a karaoke night and the friendship between her and Walter seem to grow, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	6. Karaoke Night Part 1

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

On Sunday, both Sophie and her mother felt like being in their pajamas all day and did whatever pleased them, such as reading their respective books, Sophie on _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_, and Cindy with _Pride and Prejudice_, ordering takeaways for supper and watching movies such as _Miss Potter, Burlesque _and_ The Dirty Dozen_. During paused moments and eating Indian cuisine, Sophie told her mom about everything that happened the day before. The people, the tour, every bit of it. When she mentioned that Steve asked her to be his singing competitor at Mustangs the following night, Cindy gave her daughter a playful wink, which she reacted with a laugh.

"No. It's nothing like that. I don't know if he thinks it's a date but if it comes into the conversation, I'll tell him directly, just friends."

"Well, you never know sweetheart," said Cindy.

Sophie rolled her eyes while smiling. Both continued with the last film of the evening.

Monday's work schedule was enjoyable for Sophie. She gave Sterling a short lesson on French vocabulary, made notes from a presentation that she needed to send to a female field agent busy in Egypt, typed a message on a computer for an overworked male colleague, and delivered a lot of letters to numerous people around the agency. While mail-delivering, some of the people were very friendly and grateful while others were the complete opposite, to which the female teen reacted with grace, inner peace, joy, and compassion. At times she saw Walter pass by far away, occupied with gadget testing. Whenever he glanced back, the two waved with wide grins. At one point during their coincidental sights of each other, he accidentally bumped into a column, even though Sophie made warning hand gestures beforehand. He recovered only a few minutes later, giving her a thumbs-up as to say _I'm okay_.

Sophie drove home a little before 5 p.m. just to get her small denim handbag as well as put a tiny bit of makeup on in her room. Her day and evening outfit consisted of black boots, black knee-length shorts, a white T-shirt, a purple sleeveless cardigan that reached to her knees, green rose earrings and a wolf necklace. She applied Coconut lip balm on her lips before putting it into her bag. After locking the front door, opening and closing the garage, she drove on her Vespa to Mustangs. The place is well-known for its divine and delicious cuisine, such as their own homemade tzatziki, chocolate-dipped steak, spicy chips, etc. and for its small center stage where the karaoke equipment stood. By the time she arrived there, it was nearly five-forty. She went inside, asked for a free table close to the stage which one of the friendly-looking waitresses led her to, and waited for Steve.

While driving in his red Ferrari 488 GTB, Steve was hoping that his song selections tonight would impress Sophie to the point that she will madly fall in love with him.

While waiting for Steve, Sophie ordered a glass of water. By the time she checked her watch, it was already after six.

"You look pretty tonight," said a familiar voice behind her. She turned to see who it was.

"Good evening Steve," she said.

The spy was wearing casual yet handsome attire that included his hoodie being a brilliant orange, the rest was pitch-black; T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Oh no that's okay."

He took his seat opposite her. The conversation was mainly about how they were doing, their work for the day, mostly work topics with some questions about life such as one's purpose in the world.

After they ordered some spicy chips, Sophie asked Steve;

"Would you say you're the same person as you were five years ago?"

"When I was sixteen? Yes and no."

"Why?"

"Because in my core, I'm still the sweet person as I was many years ago but have hopefully gotten wiser from big and small mistakes in the past."

"What kind of mistakes?"

"Like not to wash white clothes with colorful ones."

This made Sophie laugh.

They continued to talk until it was time to sing on the center stage.

"Ladies first," he smirked.

Sophie playfully glared at him and proceeded to the karaoke machine and chose a song.

Music started to play. Because it had a long, hauntingly beautiful and spine-chilling instrumental intro, Sophie motioned with the rhythm, some bits made Steve chuckle. She didn't notice that two other recognizable people were at the bar section quite far off in the restaurant, and were utterly surprised to see the young girl on the center stage before she began to sing on the microphone;

_I want to run, I want to hide  
I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside  
I wanna reach out and touch the flame  
Where the streets have no name_

_I want to feel sunlight on my face  
I see that dust cloud disappear without a trace  
I wanna take shelter from the poison rain  
Where the streets have no name, oh oh_

_Where the streets have no name  
Where the streets have no name  
We're still building then burning down love  
Burning down love  
And when I go there, I go there with you  
It's all I can do_

_The city's a flood  
And our love turns to rust  
We're beaten and blown by the wind  
Trampled into dust_

_I'll show you a place  
High on the desert plain  
Where the streets have no name, oh oh_

_Where the streets have no name  
Where the streets have no name  
We're still building then burning down love  
Burning down love  
And when I go there, I go there with you  
It's all I can do_

_Our love turns to rust  
We're beaten and blown by the wind  
Blown by the wind  
Oh and I see love  
See our love turn to rust  
We're beaten and blown by the wind  
Blown by the wind  
Oh when I go there  
I go there with you  
It's all I can do_

When the song ended, there was a big round of applause from Steve, some of the people working in the restaurant as well as those who were also having supper in the place.

After reaching to the spy, Sophie said;

"Beat that."

Steve giggled as if to say _Okay, you asked for it._

He approached the stage and selected his first tune. When it started to play, Sophie immediately recognized it and began to dance a bit while still sitting.

_I get up, and nothin' gets me down  
You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around  
And I know, baby, just how you feel  
You got to roll with the punches and get to what's real_

_Ah, can't you see me standin' here  
I got my back against the record machine  
I ain't the worst that you've seen  
Ah, can't you see what I mean?_

_Ah, might as well jump  
(Jump)  
Might as well jump  
Go ahead an' jump (jump)  
Go ahead and jump  
Ow oh, hey you  
Who said that?  
Baby, how you been?  
You say you don't know  
You won't know until you begin_

_So can't ya see me standing here  
I got my back against the record machine  
I ain't the worst that you've seen  
Ah, can't you see what I mean?_

_Ah, might as well jump  
(Jump)  
Go ahead and jump  
Might as well jump (jump)  
Go ahead and jump  
Jump  
Might as well jump (jump)  
Go ahead and jump  
Get it in, jump (jump)  
Go ahead and jump_

_Jump  
Jump  
Jump  
Jump_

Everyone applauded for Steve's rendition of the song. After getting off the stage, he cheekily grinned to Sophie;

"Try to beat that."

"Okay," she shrugged and smiled, then proceeded to the karaoke machine and selected her second choice. Music began to play and Sophie was having fun singing one of her favourite tunes;

_If I could turn back time  
If I could find a way  
I'd take back those words that've hurt you and you'd stay_

_I don't know why I did the things I did  
I don't know why I said the things I said  
Pride's like a knife, it can cut deep inside  
Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes_

_I didn't really mean to hurt you  
I didn't wanna see you go  
I know I made you cry, but baby_

_If I could turn back time, if I could find a way  
I'd take back those words that've hurt you and you'd stay  
If I could reach the stars, I'd give 'em all to you  
Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do  
If I could turn back time_

_My world was shattered, I was torn apart  
Like someone took a knife and drove it deep in my heart  
When you walked out that door I swore that I didn't care  
But I lost everything, darlin', then and there_

_Too strong to tell you I was sorry  
Too proud to tell you I was wrong  
I know that I was blind and darlin'_

_If I could turn back time, if I could find a way  
I'd take back those words that've hurt you and you'd stay  
If I could reach the stars, I'd give 'em all to you  
Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do_

_If I could turn back time  
(If I could turn back time)  
If I could turn back time  
(If I could turn back time)  
If I could turn back time  
Oh, baby_

_I didn't really mean to hurt you  
I didn't wanna see you go  
I know I made you cry, but_

_If I could turn back time, if I could find a way  
I'd take back those words that hurt you  
If I could reach the stars, I'd give 'em all to you  
Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do  
If I could turn back time, if I could find a way  
And maybe, maybe, maybe you'd stay  
If I could reach the stars_

Yet another loud sound of cheer from around the whole place. Sophie climbed off and took her seat while Steve went up and selected something slow;

_I saw you dancing out the ocean  
Running fast along the sand  
A spirit born of earth and water  
Fire flying from your hands_

_In the instant that you love someone  
In the second that the hammer hits  
Reality runs up your spine  
And the pieces finally fit_

_And all I ever needed was the one  
Like freedom fields where wild horses run  
When stars collide like you and I  
No shadows block the sun  
You're all I've ever needed  
Baby you're the one_

_There are caravans we follow  
Drunken nights in dark hotels  
When chances breathe between the silence  
Where sex and love no longer gel, oh_

_For each man in his time is Cain  
Until he walks along the beach  
And sees his future in the water  
A long lost heart within his reach_

_And all I ever needed was the one  
Like freedom fields where wild horses run  
When stars collide like you and I  
No shadows block the sun  
You're all I've ever needed  
Oh, baby you're the one_

_And all I ever needed was the one  
Like freedom fields where wild horses run  
When stars collide like you and I  
No shadows block the sun  
Oh, you're all I've ever needed  
Oh, baby you're the one_

_All I ever needed was the one  
Like freedom fields where wild horses run  
When stars collide like you and I  
No shadows block the sun  
Oh, you're all I've ever needed  
Oh, baby you're the one_

Another round of applause. During the song, Sophie had a feeling that Steve was expressing his attraction to her, yet she felt unsure because she sees him as a friend and colleague only. She said to herself that only time will tell if he verbally confesses his feelings for her. Someone else in the restaurant was scared of losing Sophie to Steve. He was saying to himself that Steve is everything that Walter isn't; handsome, suave, charming and confident in contrast to his social awkwardness and bashfulness. He really hoped that she didn't feel the same way about Steve as he was in love with her himself.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. The songs in order are _Where the Streets Have No Name_ by ****U2****, _Jump_ by ****Van Halen****, _If I Could Turn Back Time_ by ****Cher****, and _The One_ by ****Elton John****. Now that Sophie and Steve are having a fun karaoke night, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	7. Karaoke Night Part 2 (And A Surprise)

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Sophie decided to select a song that one of her friends introduced her to a long time ago. It started to play and she began to sing;

_The morning sun touched lightly on  
The eyes of Lucy Jordan  
In a white suburban bedroom  
In a white suburban town_

_And she lay there 'neath the covers  
Dreaming of a thousand lovers  
'Til the world turned to orange  
And the room went spinning round_

_At the age of thirty-seven  
She realized she'd never ride  
Through Paris in a sports car  
With the warm wind in her hair_

_So she let the phone keep ringing  
And she sat there softly singing  
Little nursery rhymes she'd memorized  
In her Daddy's easy chair_

_Her husband, he's off to work  
And the kids are off to school  
And there were oh so many ways  
For her to spend her days_

_She could clean the house for hours  
Or rearrange the flowers  
Or run naked through the shady street  
Screaming all the way_

_At the age of thirty-seven  
She realized she'd never ride  
Through Paris in a sports car  
With the warm wind in her hair_

_So she let the phone keep ringing  
As she sat there softly singing  
Pretty nursery rhymes she'd memorized  
In her Daddy's easy chair_

_The evening sun touched gently on  
The eyes of Lucy Jordan  
On the rooftop where she climbed  
When all the laughter grew too loud_

_And she bowed and curtsied to the man  
Who reached and offered her his hand  
And he led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd_

_At the age of thirty-seven  
She knew she'd found forever  
As she rode along through Paris  
With the warm wind in her hair_

Another big round of applause. Sophie proceeded from the stage to her seat while Steve went up and chose his next singing choice. He contemplated; "_I really hope my songs are impressing her and maybe even making her fall in love with me._"

_I could stay awake just to hear you breathing  
Watch you smile while you are sleeping  
While you're far away dreaming  
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender  
I could stay lost in this moment forever  
Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure_

_Don't want to close my eyes  
I don't want to fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream will never do  
I'd still miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Lying close to you feeling your heart beating  
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming  
Wondering if it's me you're seeing  
Then I kiss your eyes  
And thank God we're together  
I just want to stay with you in this moment forever  
Forever and ever_

_Don't want to close my eyes  
I don't want to fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream will never do  
I'd still miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing_

_I don't want to miss one smile  
I don't want to miss one kiss  
I just want to be with you  
Right here with you, just like this  
I just want to hold you close  
Feel your heart so close to mine  
And just stay here in this moment  
For all the rest of time_

_Don't want to close my eyes  
I don't want to fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream will never do  
I'd still miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Don't want to close my eyes  
I don't want to fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby  
I don't want to miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream will never do  
I'd still miss you baby  
And I don't want to miss a thing_

_Don't want to close my eyes__  
I don't want to fall asleep, yeah  
I don't want to miss a thing_

Yet another loud cheer from everyone, even some tears from a few of the viewers. During the rendition, Walter thought the lyrics expressed exactly how he felt about Sophie, never wanting to miss a single moment with her as well as hold her close to him.

Sophie got up the center stage after Steve went to his seat. Before she selected her next tune, she spotted Walter and Sterling far away, gave a wide smile and waved. They responded to her gesture and proceeded to sit slightly closer to where Sophie was standing. Music began to play and because it has quite a long intro, she slowly motioned to the rhythm and began to sing.

_Some people fill their lives with empty nights__  
And days that slip away  
Some search till the end of time  
But never find the open arms of fate  
One moment comes along  
Someone who's a dream to you  
And all at once your dreams come true_

_Once in a lifetime you find the one you really love  
For now and forever one love that never ends  
Once in a lifetime, when every star that lights the sky  
Will shine with one reason, leading your heart to the one  
Love you find just once in a lifetime_

_Some people live their lives in compromise  
And hide their dreams away  
Some never take the chance within their hands  
To claim the prize they make  
When faith is all you need  
To hold the hand of destiny  
To find the love that's meant to be_

_Once in a lifetime you find the one you really love  
For now and forever one love that never ends  
Once in a lifetime, when every star that lights the sky  
Will shine with one reason, leading your heart to the one  
Love you find just once in a lifetime_

_If you believe in the power of love  
And you believe that dreams come true  
Magic will fill your heart when that moment comes along  
Just once in your life_

_Once in a lifetime  
You find the one you really love  
For now and forever one love that never ends  
Once in a lifetime  
When every star that lights the sky  
Will shine with one reason  
Leading you home to the one love you find  
Just once in a lifetime...x2  
Once in a lifetime...x2  
For now and forever, one love that never ends...  
Just once in a lifetime...ooh yeah...  
The one you really love, the one you really love...  
Just once in a lifetime...oh...  
Once in a lifetime...ooh..._

Another round of applause from everyone in the whole room. Some audience members dried their eyes as a result of the beautiful words in the song.

During her singing, Sophie glanced at Walter more than she looked at Steve. Sterling wondered if there was a hint of attraction from her side to the young scientist. Steve was clueless about Walter liking her and if she liked him back. He was also oblivious about the fact that she saw Steve as a friend and not as a love interest.

After she sat down, Steve went up to the karaoke machine and chose one of his favourite _James Bond_ melodies.

_Hey driver, where we're going?__  
I swear my nerves are showing  
Set my hopes up way too high  
The living's in the way we die_

_Comes the morning and the headlights fade away  
Hundred thousand people, I'm the one they blame  
I've been waiting long for one of us to say  
Save the darkness, let it never fade away_

_Ah, ah, the living daylights  
Ah, ah, the living daylights_

_All right, hold on tight now  
It's down, down to the wire  
Set your hopes up way too high  
The living's in the way we die_

_Comes the morning and the headlights fade away  
Hundred thousand changes, everything's the same  
I've been waiting long for one of us to say  
Save the darkness, let it never fade away_

_Ah, ah, the living daylights  
Ah, ah, the living daylights  
Ah, ah, the living daylights_

_Comes the morning and the headlights fade away  
Hundred thousand people, I'm the one they frame_

_Ah, ah, the living daylights  
Ah, ah, the living daylights  
Ah, ah, the living daylights_

_(x2)  
Set your hopes up way too high  
The living's in the way we die_

There was a loud cheer from the whole restaurant. Steve gave a short bow before leaving the stage. After taking his seat, Sophie went up for her next rendition. This time, it was one of her favourite 80's tunes.

_Summer, it turns me upside down__  
Summer, summer, summer  
It's like a merry-go-round_

_I see you under the midnight  
All shackles and bows  
The high shoes  
With the cleats a-clicking  
A temperamental glow_

_How could you let me go_

_Oh, I got a hold on you  
Got a hold on you  
I've got a hold on you tonight_

_Oh, I got a hold on you  
I got a hold on you  
(Got a hold on you)  
That's right_

_(Uh oh, it's magic)  
When I'm with you  
(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Just a little magic  
You know it's true  
I got a hold on you_

_Oh, twisted  
Under, sideways, down  
I know you're getting twisted  
And you can't calm down_

_I see you under the midnight  
Love darts in your eyes  
How far can you take it  
Till you realize  
There's magic in your eyes_

_I got a hold on you  
Got a hold on you  
Got a hold on you tonight_

_I got a hold on you  
Got a hold on you  
(Got a hold on you)  
Yeah, oh, yeah, oh_

_(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Uh oh, when I'm with you  
(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Uh oh, it's magic_

_Just a little bit of  
Magic pulls me through  
I got a hold on you_

_I've got a hold on you  
I got a hold on you  
(I got a hold on you)  
That's right, it's magic_

_(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Uh oh, it's magic  
When I'm with you_

_(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Just a little magic  
Inside of you_

_(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Takes a little bit of magic  
That's true  
When I'm with you_

_(Uh oh, it's magic)  
Gotta be magic  
Your magic pulls me through_

During the song, Walter thought; "_Can it be? No, that must surely be a coincidence. She can't be FilmMusicBookfangirl the blogger…or is she?_"

Sophie left the stage and sat down opposite Steve.

"Once again, you were amazing up there," said the spy.

"Thanks. You're not too bad yourself with your choices."

"Thanks. Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

"No problem."

He stood up and proceeded to the Men's room. Sophie wanted to say hello to Walter and Sterling so she made her way to where they were.

"Hi, guys!"

"Hello Sophie," said Sterling.

"Hey," the young scientist said nervously.

She hugged Walter first and then Sterling, to which they responded with big smiles.

"How have you guys been?" asked Sophie.

"Busy," replied Sterling.

"Ah yes of course."

"I'll be back in a minute. I need another glass of champagne. Walter, you good?"

"Uh-huh."

"Excuse me."

And Sterling went to the bar section, leaving Sophie and Walter alone.

"Hey, you were incredible every time you came upstage and sang," he said while blushing.

"Aww, thank you. Thank you so much."

He asked her; "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"Well, it's actually two things. One, are you on a date with Steve?"

"No! Heck no. The other day he asked me if I wanted to be his singing competitor and I couldn't say no, I love karaoke. I'm not sure if Steve thinks it's a date but not to me."

"_Sweet! Maybe I still have a chance with her!_" he thought to himself.

"Okay, cool," he said.

"What's your second question?"

"This is going to sound crazy but, are you FilmMusicBookfangirl the blogger?"

Sophie had an astonished look on her face. "Yeah, why?"

"When you sang _Magic_, it clicked to me that you might be her."

"Yip, you're looking at her," she said with a semi-embarrassed expression.

"Oh, wow! That's amazing! Did you know that I like one of the videos you made, about the songs that are thirty-five years old this year?"

"No, I didn't," she giggled. "I'm so glad you like it."

"That's how I remembered you put that song in your countdown."

"Oh, yeah!"

The two laughed. Then Sophie asked him; "Do you come here sometimes?"

"Yeah. But mostly with Mr. Sterling after work or whenever he needs someone to talk to."

"That's really sweet of you."

Walter's cheeks turned red again.

"Hey, guys," said Steve.

"Hey," said Walter.

"So what do you say? Shall we continue karaoke-ing?"

"Yeah, sure. See you guys later?" asked Sophie.

"Yeah, see ya."

Sophie and Steve went to their respective table. Walter sat down on his chair and glanced at the object of his affection. Sterling returned with a champagne glass in his hand.

"Hey, you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm cool," said the young scientist.

The spy turned to see where the boy was looking and softly chuckled. He had a feeling that Walter had a big crush on Sophie, ever since he met her.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. The songs in order are _The Ballad of Lucy Jordan_ by Marianne Faithfull, _I Don't Want to Miss a Thing_ by Aerosmith, _Once In A Lifetime_ by Michael Bolton, _The Living Daylights_ by a-ha, and _Magic_ by The Cars. Now that Walter is in Sophie and Steve's karaoke outing, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	8. Karaoke Night Part 3

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Steve went up to the karaoke equipment and selected his next song to sing.

_I turn the music up, I got my records on__  
I shut the world outside until the lights come on  
Maybe the streets alight, maybe the trees are gone  
I feel my heart start beating to my favourite song_

_And all the kids they dance, all the kids all night  
Until Monday morning feels another life  
I turn the music up  
I'm on a roll this time  
And heaven is in sight_

_I turn the music up, I got my records on  
From underneath the rubble sing a rebel song  
Don't want to see another generation drop  
I'd rather be a comma than a full stop_

_Maybe I'm in the black, maybe I'm on my knees  
Maybe I'm in the gap between the two trapezes  
But my heart is beating and my pulses start  
Cathedrals in my heart_

_As we saw oh this light I swear you, emerge blinking into  
To tell me it's alright  
As we soar walls, every siren is a symphony  
And every tear's a waterfall  
Is a waterfall  
Oh  
Is a waterfall  
Oh oh oh  
Is a is a waterfall  
Every tear  
Is a waterfall  
Oh oh oh_

_So you can hurt, hurt me bad  
But still I'll raise the flag_

_Oh  
It was a wa wa wa wa wa-aterfall  
A wa wa wa wa wa-aterfall_

_(x5)  
__Every tear  
Every tear  
Every teardrop is a waterfall_

During Steve's rendition, Sterling was talking to Walter;

"You like her don't ya?" he asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" said the young scientist.

"Sophie."

"What about Sophie?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like her a lot."

Walter sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

The spy laughed. "Yip. Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

"But what if she also sees me as just a friend?"

"Also?"

"She told me earlier tonight that she sees Steve as a friend, nothing more."

"I saw the way she looked at you during one of her songs. She was looking at you more than she was looking at him."

"Do you think I have a chance with her?"

"Absolutely. Be bold and ask her out."

"Thank you, Mr. Sterling."

"No problem."

There was another big round of applause from everyone in the whole restaurant. Then the two saw Sophie climb onto the center stage. Before she started to sing, she said;

"This is my last song this evening, and I'd like to dedicate it to my mom, who is here tonight with her friend over there." She pointed to Cindy and her friend Tess. Tess had bushy, mouse-brown hair, brown eyes, and was dressed as a 1970s hippie. Everyone looked to where Sophie was pointing at. Both of them waved at her with big grins.

Music started to play. When Cindy immediately recognized it, her face turned into a very ecstatic expression.

_Tether your soul to me  
I will never let go completely  
One day your hands will be  
Strong enough to hold me_

_I might not be there for all your battles  
But you'll win them eventually  
I'll pray that I'm giving you all that matters  
So one day you'll say to me_

_I love my life  
I am powerful  
I am beautiful  
I am free_

_I love my life  
I am wonderful  
I am magical  
I am me  
I love my life_

_I am not my mistakes  
And God knows I've made a few  
I started to question the angels  
And the answer they gave was you_

_I cannot promise there won't be sadness  
I wish I could take it from you  
But you'll find the courage to face the madness  
And sing it because it's true_

_I love my life  
I am powerful  
I am beautiful  
I am free_

_I love my life  
I am wonderful  
I am magical  
I am me  
I love my life_

_Find the others  
With hearts  
Like yours  
Run far, run free  
I'm with you_

_I love my life  
I am powerful  
I am beautiful  
I am free_

_I love my life  
I am wonderful  
I am magical  
I am me_

_I love my life  
I am powerful  
I am beautiful  
I am free_

_I love my life  
I am wonderful  
I am magical  
I am me  
I love my life_

_And finally  
I'm where I wanna be_

Another round of loud cheers from around the room. There was a big whistle coming from Cindy and Tess. Sophie gave a short bow and went to her seat. Steve climbed onto the stage and selected his last song.

_She's like the wind through my tree__  
She rides the night next to me  
She leads me through moonlight  
Only to burn me with the sun  
She's taken my heart  
But she doesn't know what she's done_

_Feel her breath on my face  
Her body close to me  
Can't look in her eyes  
She's out of my league  
Just a fool to believe  
I have anything she needs  
She's like the wind_

_I look in the mirror and all I see  
Is a young old man with only a dream  
Am I just fooling myself  
That she'll stop the pain  
Living without her  
I'd go insane_

_Feel her breath on my face  
Her body close to me  
Can't look in her eyes  
She's out of my league  
Just a fool to believe  
I have anything she needs  
She's like the wind_

_Feel your breath on my face  
Your body close to me  
Can't look in your eyes  
You're out of my league  
Just a fool to believe  
(Just a fool to believe)  
She's like the wind  
(Just a fool to believe)  
Just a fool to believe  
(She's like the wind)  
Just a fool to believe  
(Just a fool to believe)  
She's like the wind  
(Just a fool to believe)  
Just a fool to believe  
She's like the wind_

_(Just a fool...)  
(She's like the wind)  
(She's like the wind)  
(Just a fool...)  
(She's like the wind)  
(Just a fool...)_

While Steve was singing, Walter thought this was another tune that expressed his feelings for Sophie. Words like "She's taken my heart", "Just a fool to believe" – in the sense that he feels like a klutz in general – "Her body close to me" – whenever she is near his thin figure and their brief hug at the agency – "She's out of my league", as well as the title lyrics.

Another round of applause. After he got off, both Steve and Sophie gathered up their belongings after he paid for their shared meal and drinks.

"Hey I gotta go to the bathroom again, do you mind waiting?"

"No, not at all."

"Great." And he dashed to the Men's room.

"_Come on man you can do it,_" Walter said in his head while approaching Sophie.

"Hi Walter," she smiled.

"Hey, I forgot to ask you something."

"Yeah, me too."

His eyes widened. "Really? What?"

"I keep forgetting to ask you if I can have your phone number please."

"Oh yeah sure! Absolutely!"

The two reached their phones from their pockets. Sophie typed in her number and name on his phone and Walter on hers before giving them back to each other.

"Awesome, thanks!"

"Welcome, and likewise."

"What was it you were going to ask me?"

"_That I want to ask you out._" He thought. Then said out loud; "The same thing actually."

"Oh, okay, cool."

"You ready to go?" asked Steve, after coming out of the Men's room.

"Uh, yeah. I'll text you, Walter," said Sophie.

"Yeah, see ya," responded the young scientist.

They waved to each other with Walter lingering at her distance. Sterling came to his side.

"Have you asked her?"

"No, not tonight."

Outside, Steve showed Sophie his stunning-looking car.

"Wow! It looks wicked!" she said.

"Do you wanna go for a ride?"

"No thanks I can't, I gotta get to bed early, and besides, I have my Vespa with me."

"Come on just one ride," he gently pleaded.

"Maybe next time," she replied. She really hoped that Steve was not one of those annoying begging types of men who don't take no for an answer when it comes to women.

"Okay then."

As he got inside, Sophie said;

"Thanks so much for tonight. I had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, me too. Have a good night."

"Thanks, and ditto."

"_Gracias._"

And he accelerated his engine that roared like a lion and drove away.

Sophie came to where her Vespa was parked and made her way back home.

It was around ten when the young girl opened the front door. She then went up the stairs to her room, but not before noticing a small sticky note on her mother's door.

_Hello darling!_

_I'll be back home around eleven. I hope tonight was a blast. Tell me all about it when we get a chance to talk :) _

_Love you, goodnight, sweet dreams! XXX_

Sophie grinned at Cindy's loving message and went inside her room. She changed to her striped cobalt blue pajamas and gently jumped into bed after getting her phone out of her bag.

_Hey Walter :)_

_I know it's late but I just wanted to send you a message to let you know it's me._

_It was great talking to you tonight. I'm quite bushed after tonight's fun events ha ha, which is why after typing this, I'm going to sleep ha ha. I hope we get a chance to continue talking during work hours._

_See you around the agency :)_

_Sophie_

By the time she was fast asleep, Walter heard his phone beep while he was working with various small objects and carefully dropping them into bottles that each had a different color, such as a pebble into a green liquid, which resulted into growing bigger, nearly breaking the bottle from the inside. He stopped what he was doing, washed and dried his hands, and went to his phone. When he saw it was a message from Sophie, he did a brief happy dance before reading her text. Then he wrote back;

_Hi Sophie :)_

_Yeah, I'm glad we got to hang out a bit tonight, even if it was for a short while. I'm also happy you had fun tonight :)_

_Yeah, I'm working late, as usual, ha ha. _

_I also hope we get to hang out and talk the next time we see each other in the agency. Or we can also hang out in one of our houses. It's so cool that we're practically neighbours! _

_Anyway, goodnight and we talk soon :)_

_Walter _

Walter sent the message and continued with his work while thinking about Sophie and other things.

Sophie's phone vibrated but since she sleeps like a bomb – most of the time – she would only see it the following morning.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. The songs in order are _Every Teardrop is a Waterfall_ by Coldplay, _I Love My Life_ by Robbie Williams, and _She's Like the Wind_ ft. Wendy Fraser by Patrick Swayze.**** Now that the karaoke night is done, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	9. Party at the Agency

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait but life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!**

Sophie's phone alarm blared out the song; _Poison _by Alice Cooper. She did her morning stretches, took a shower, and selected her outfit – which was light-blue and white running shoes, semi-tight denim bootleg jeans, royal blue T-shirt, sleeveless and unzipped rainbow tie-dye hoodie that reached to her bottom, small silver flower earrings, and a thin pink choker necklace.

She read the message that Walter sent her last night which made her smile. She also hoped that they can hang out later, depending on their work schedule of the day.

After having breakfast, Sophie left her mom a loving sticky-note message on the kettle, and after ensuring that the coast was clear, she pushed a button on a watch that led her to the agency. The watch in question is actually a teleportation device that can only be used when one is completely alone.

Her Tuesday work time was mostly enjoyable. She delivered letters to numerous colleagues who were a mix between being very grateful and the opposite, helped a female spy out with a disguise that required elegant clothing for a ball where an antagonist was attending to – which ended up being a stunning red dress that would likely attract an enemy's henchman to giving her information or the main baddie himself. Sophie was even a guinea-pig for an experiment in the science lab. Close to Walter's workroom, Meghan Trainor's song _Better When I'm Dancin'_ was playing through the speakers and Sophie immediately broke into singing and dancing, which made most of the colleagues laugh and join in the fun, especially Walter who was happily dancing with her. Both were impressed by their own dance moves. It was as if he was a professional dancer in secret.

Sophie's rhythmic beats encouraged a blonde-haired male scientist who looked like he was in his forties to test out one of his latest gadgets on Sophie. The idea was that his device could hack into someone's headphones or earphones unsuspectingly and allow the hacker to listen to nearby and long-distance voices for information, and when the victim begins to think that something is wrong with his or her head wear, the hacker can put on a hypnotic meditation song that immediately makes the wearer forget about his or her suspicions. The scientist named James Moy instructed Sophie to put on some earphones. At first, it played music like a normal MP3 player, then quickly shifted to sounds of voices all over the whole department. The inner conversations consisted of someone's plans for the weekend, anxiety for a blind date, and other personal and embarrassing aspects. James was joyful to see that his gadget was working and thanked Sophie for her participation to which she responded with a smile.

Later in the evening, Sophie and her mom were talking about Monday's events.

"I'm guessing that you being at Mustangs wasn't coincidental," said Sophie.

Her mom laughed. "You know me. I'm overprotective when it comes to you and boys."

"And you know that I'm very grateful that you care. But in terms of self-defense, I can look out for myself as you also know."

"Yes, darling. Who was that other boy you were talking to last night?"

"Walter Beckett."

"He seems nice. What is he like?"

"Oh, he is. He's kind, smart, funny, and he is fun to be around with. It feels like I can be myself whenever we're hanging out, at work or other places, but so far it's mostly been at work when we talk at the times when I'm sent to his department, whether it's delivering letters or making notes for someone. I think you might like him."

"I'm sure."

"I'll tell you this. Once you look into his beautiful blue eyes, he might remind you of one of your favourite Scottish actors."

"You mean, like Cam McAbow?"

"Precisely," Sophie smirked.

Cindy laughed while blushing. "Do you like him?"

Sophie laughed nervously. "Well…"

Then her mother gasped. "Oh my God!"

"Is it that obvious?"

Cindy guffawed loudly and then said; "Aww, darling this is fabulous! Why don't you tell him how you feel?"

"I don't know I…he probably just wants to be friends."

"Well sweetie, you never know if you don't find out. But I understand."

"At least I'm very grateful to have a friend like him."

"Yeah. It is always great. Excited for Friday?" asked Cindy.

Sophie grinned widely. "You bet!"

Sophie and her mother finished dinner, cleaned up, and went to their respective bedrooms where they had a beautiful and deep sleep.

Three days went by quickly for Cindy and especially Sophie. It was suddenly Friday, the night when a birthday party was taking place, of one of the people working in the agency; Annie Lyles, an exceptional female spy who just turned fifty, and one of the people Sophie was working for as a matter of fact. That evening before six-thirty, both Sophie and her mom ensured that they were ready to go to the agency for the party. Cindy's association with Annie was the fact that the two go way back as good childhood friends. Sophie was wearing black ballet flats, a light-Aquamarine sleeveless skater dress that reached to her knees. The dress also had a turtleneck form. It also suited her olive-tanned skin, and she paired it with a long-sleeved black cardigan, small magenta rose ear studs, and a necklace in the shape of a little diamond heart, while her mom wore black ankle-boots, a crimson strapless dress, a matching long-sleeved white cardigan, silver star ear studs, and a thick choker necklace in the form of a black belt buckle.

Mother and daughter drove with Cindy's red Jeep Wrangler, and arrived close to where the Lincoln Memorial was before seven. They ascended the stairs, walked up to the political figure and with Cindy's watch, scanned the one part of the wall for confirmation. The entrance opened to show a dark passage only this time there were a few lights to act as a guide. The two made their way to the blue tunnel, climbed up and slid through almost every room in the agency. Sophie and her mother were only a few feet apart as to not bump against each other during the ride. One of the rooms they saw was where the main party was happening. It was humongous that also included a dance floor. It was full of bright colours, tables, snacks, people, and laughter.

At last, Cindy and Sophie made it to the exact room where Sophie first came to the agency. You know, the one with the six cylinders. Both climbed off and proceeded to the large party. Annie saw her other guests and began to approach them. Her appearance consisted of black long curly hair that complemented her chocolate complexion and was in the form of a gorgeous high pony-tail. Physically she looked remarkable. Same deal with her attire. Her slender figure showed a pair of sparkling silver high heels and a white suit with a black and white striped tie.

"Cindy! Sophie!"

The two heard her excited greeting and turned to face her. They all had big smiles on their faces.

"Annie, happy birthday!" said Sophie and her mother in unison. They reached for their identical-looking small black handbags to retrieve a letter which included a special message from both of them and two little gifts that were beautifully wrapped up in an Emerald hue with golden stars on it.

Annie opened Cindy's first. She was surprised to see that the object was a portable pink-colored music player full of her favourite songs, such as _Spirit in the Sky_ by Norman Greenbaum, _Dancing in the Ceiling_ by Lionel Richie, and many others. Annie grinned broadly and hugged her old friend in gratitude and then asked eagerly what Sophie got for her. The young girl keenly handed over to her boss her present. Annie's eyes widened when she saw she had just received a new and cool-looking set of ice-blue earphones.

"Now you can take music wherever you go," responded Sophie enthusiastically. Her mother nodded in agreement.

"Thank you both so much!" said Annie, and they all reached for a big group hug.

The three women then walked to Annie's table that looked grand and divine, similar to all of them.

During a conversation, Sophie interrupted by saying; "Please excuse me for a moment. I want to go look for a friend and ask how he's doing."

"No problem Sophie," said Annie.

"Thanks, see you guys now-now," and with that she rose up from her lilac seat and began to wander through the massive room. Annie asked Cindy who Sophie was searching for, to which she whispered incoherently in her ear and it made Annie giggle. Both were happy that the young girl had romantic feelings for one of the sweetest guys in the whole agency.

Sophie was turning left and right. There were numerous party-goers who all had beautiful outfits on, such as Joy Jenkins, who had a striking silver dress on that matched perfectly with her hair. Walter was busy talking to Lance when he suddenly glanced and stared at Sophie who couldn't seem to find him. To the boy, she looked absolutely stunning with her formal attire. Then again, she always looked beautiful to him, no matter what she wore. The super-spy looked in the same direction.

"Go get her tiger," he winked and smirked.

The young scientist laughed timidly and said; "Yip. Here goes nothing."

Then he started to walk to her. When he was only a few feet away, she turned and her eyes enlarged.

"Hi!" she said excitedly.

"Hey!" Walter said in the same manner. He ensured to not act nervous around her and kept telling himself to play it cool once again.

"You look…amazing," he said while blushing.

"Thanks," she replied while also turning red. To the young female teen, Walter looked handsome with his outfit that consisted of a black suit with black shoes, white collar shirt, black tie, and was even wearing a top hat with a white stripe.

"So do you," she said.

"Thank you," he smiled.

"What have you been doing since you got here?" she asked inquisitively.

"Oh, mainly talking to Lance," he said and then pointed to where Sterling was, who waved to both of them while holding an item that had the appearance of a champagne glass in his left hand. Sterling's outfit was his usual royal blue suit but with the exception of a black tie and red collar shirt. Sophie happily waved back.

"And what have you been doing since you got here?"

"Oh, hanging out with the birthday girl and my mom over there," Sophie pointed to where their table was. Both Annie and Cindy were playfully watching her as if they were hopeless romantics – which they were – and waved to her. She and Walter greeted in the same fashion and the two women smilingly mouthed to Sophie who the guy was next to her, she mouthed "Walter." Annie and Cindy nodded while also giggling.

"What are they laughing about?" he asked curiously.

"Some funny story that happened to them during their youth days."

"Wait, is that how long they've known each other?"

"Yeah, they go way back as kids."

"Can I ask what's it about?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

Both laughed until they heard an announcement from the DJ about his next song choice. So far the music consisted of various genres from 80's hard and soft rock as well as synth-pop to today's dance songs. Once the song began to play in the speakers, Sophie lit up as it is one of her absolute favourites. The song in question was Jennifer Lopez's _On the Floor_ featuring Pitbull. Walter saw her expression and smiled. He thought this was his chance to dance with the beautiful girl in light-Aquamarine.

"Hey do you wanna-" he asked her, pointing to the dance floor.

"Yeah!" she said, her face showing excitement.

Both walked until they reached to where all the fun and action was happening, in terms of music. Once they found a spot, they immediately burst into energetic and emotive freestyle movements. They were killing it on the dance floor. So much so, that everyone cleared up space for them because they really liked what they were seeing. While the two were showing off their best moves, they also were really enjoying themselves. Sophie was mouthing the lyrics of Jennifer Lopez while Walter was doing Pitbull's words. At one point during the dance, Walter coolly took off and boomeranged his hat while glancing at his dance partner, and it perfectly landed close to the punch bowl without getting a single tiny drop on it.

After the song ended, the two felt incredibly thirsty and only a little bit exhausted from the dancing but that didn't stop them if they wanted to continue. Sophie and Walter headed to one of the tables that served cold drinks. They grabbed a cup of water respectively, said cheers to each other, and drank the whole cup. Then grabbed a second cup of water and drank it in one big gulp. They all laughed after finishing their seconds.

"Is it all right if I quickly go and check on my mom and see if she's okay? I'm sure she's having a blast but I just want to make sure," asked Sophie.

"Yeah of course," said the young scientist.

"Or better yet, why don't you join us?"

Walter immediately perked up and smiled. "Yeah I would love that!"

"Awesome! They are around here somewhere…"

Walter followed Sophie through some of the tables until they finally found Cindy and Annie's place.

"Hello, darling!" said Cindy.

"Hi, mom. Walter, this is my mom Cindy Jayes and you know Annie?" Sophie said during her introduction.

"Yes I know Annie, happy birthday again Ms. Lyles."

"Thank you young man," Annie said with a grin.

"Very pleased to meet you Cindy," he smiled widely and extended his right hand. She happily returned the gesture and was surprised to see how much of a gentleman he appeared to be so far.

"Likewise. You know Sophie has been telling me recently a lot about you," she said.

"Really?" he responded while blushing. "Like what?"

"Oh, just about how you two are great buddies as well as colleagues."

"Oh, yes," he chuckled nervously then turned to Sophie. "Yeah, she's a great friend. It feels like I can tell her anything without judgment."

Sophie's face went a lightly red. "Aww, do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do."

"Thanks so much…and may I just say…ditto," she grinned.

From a near distance Lance saw how Walter and Sophie were greatly enjoying each other's company by the look of them smiling at each other. The same went to Cindy and Annie. Cindy felt joyful in knowing that Sophie liked someone as sweet as the young scientist. The super-spy noticed that Steve was headed to his direction. His appearance was also handsome. He had a black suit on with a black bow tie, black shoes, and a purple collar shirt that complemented his green eyes.

"Hey Sterling, what's up?" he said with glee.

"The usual, Barker. Being cool and having fun," he said confidently.

"Of course you are. Hey, did you by any chance see Sophie around this evening?"

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I plan to hopefully sweep her off her feet with the first slow-dance," he said in a slightly mischievous manner.

"Well, good luck with that," said Sterling.

"Thank you, man."

Since the karaoke night with Sophie, he knew that Steve was also in love with her but there was no way he was going to ensure that would happen since Walter was infatuated with her too, and he also knew that Sophie liked him the same way just by observing how she is with the young scientist. He said to himself that tonight's mission was to constantly check on his two young colleagues, and that they would have a romantic and splendid evening together. Since the adventure that Lance and Walter had together, the two became close friends and thus as a friend and colleague, Sterling wanted to help Walter win Sophie over. After Steve received his wine glass from the counter where Sterling was mostly at during the party, he walked to another way. When he saw that Sophie and Walter were still having a great time and that Steve was far away from the two, Lance turned to where some young women were, giggling and having a snack bowl full of pretzels and some champagne glasses. He saw that Rayla Hughes was there. She was a pretty girl also in her teens. She had jet-black hair that had some blonde highlights on each side. Her eyes were liquid-blue much like Walter's, and her face and body had a similar look to Morticia Addams. Rayla was having a fun time conversing with her friends that included Haley who was dressed beautifully in an Emerald dress until she was interrupted by Sterling.

"Good evening, ladies," he said suavely.

"Hello, Mr. Sterling," they responded with a smile.

"Can I borrow Ms. Hughes for a moment?"

"Yes, sir," Rayla replied while getting up from her seat and followed the super-spy to a place where her friends and Steve could not see them.

"What is it that you wanted to see me about, sir?" she asked curiously.

"Well, word is, is that Steve wants to dance with you tonight," he said while trying to keep a straight and convincing facial expression.

"Really?" she asked in a surprised manner.

"Yip, so when you see him close to the dance floor, you'll know what it means."

"Oh, okay. Well, thank you for that piece of information, sir," said Rayla.

"You're welcome, Ms. Hughes, and enjoy the rest of your evening," he said charmingly.

"Thank you so much sir, and you too," she said before heading back to her social circle.

"Thank you, Ms. Hughes!" he called out before walking back to his original spot close to the alcohol and cold beverage section.

"Hey, what was that about?" asked one of Rayla's friends.

"Girls, I think I'm getting a dance with someone later tonight…" she said with a dreamy grin.

Luckily for Sterling, Steve had not yet found Sophie, who was still enjoying herself with her mother, Annie, and especially Walter. He smiled to himself, knowing that everything was going swimmingly…

"We're going to get another snack bowl, can we get you anything?" asked Sophie politely.

"No, we're good darling," responded Cindy gently.

"Excuse us please," said Sophie in a friendly fashion and she and Walter simultaneously risen up from their seats and proceeded to the snack table. But before anything else could happen, there was another announcement from the DJ;

"Now a little something for those in love or want to fall in love…" he said with a smirk.

The next melodybegan to play through the loudspeakers, just as the disco ball was shining pink colours all over the room. As they listened to the first words, both Sophie and Walter glanced at each other and blushed.

_I'm waiting  
For someone who could turn my life  
Around  
Someone who could make me feel  
The way I used to feel  
But she never comes_

During the first section of the song, both teens smiled. Then Walter plucked the courage to slowly approach her and offer his hand. She took it gently, moved closer to him, and the two began to slow-dance while embracing each other. They were surrounded by other couples moving with the music in the same motion. As Steve went running, knowing he really wanted to dance with Sophie, he saw he was already too late when he saw Sophie and Walter together on the dance floor. He looked unhappy until his reaction changed when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to who it was and his hands were abruptly grabbed by Rayla, who led him to the slow-dance action. He didn't want to be rude so he just let her have the first dance. As the song progressed, Sophie and Walter felt more comfortable and closer than ever while being at each other's arms.

_I'm searching  
But there's no one that I'd care to talk  
About  
And all the lovers in the world  
Don't amount to much  
'Cause what I want  
Is just one true love_

_And I'd give anything  
And everything  
To fall in love  
Just this one time  
I'd like to find  
What I've been dreaming of  
Well I could find someone to hold me  
But that wouldn't be enough  
But I'd give anything  
To fall in love_

_Now I lay here  
I'd rather not be sleeping by myself  
Staring at the wall  
I question it all  
Will she ever come (will she ever come)  
Will she ever come_

_And I'd give anything  
And everything  
To fall in love  
Just this one time  
I'd like to find  
What I've been dreaming of  
Well I could find someone to hold me  
But that wouldn't be enough  
But I'd give anything  
To fall in love_

_I'm gonna keep on making wishes  
I'm gonna keep on being strong  
I won't settle for less than true love and it's best  
I'm gonna keep in holdin' on  
And I'd give_

_I'd give anything  
And everything  
To fall in love  
Just this one time  
I'd like to find  
What I've been dreaming of  
Well I could find someone to hold me  
But that wouldn't be enough  
I'd give anything  
To fall in love oh oh_

_I'd give anything  
To fall in love_

_I wanna fall  
I wanna fall in love  
I'd give everything to fall  
In love_

As the song started to say its last lyrics and fade, the two intensely locked eyes for a short moment, closed them, leaned forward, and were about to kiss when all of a sudden…

"Sophie!" cried out the voice of Cindy who was searching for her daughter.

"Sorry, Walter, I must go," she said sadly.

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you on Monday," he said in a similar fashion.

"Yeah."

Then she turned away from him but froze and faced him. Then to his astonishment, she ran up to him and gave a peck on his cheek. His eyes broadened in surprise followed by a grin.

"Thanks for everything tonight," she said while blushing and smiling.

Then she started to sprint towards where her mother was waiting for her while yelling;

"I had a lot of fun!"

"Me too!" he shouted while waving to her. Then he watched her leave until Sophie was out of sight.

The young scientist then approached to where Lance was. The super-spy noticed that Walter had a big dreamy look on his face.

"Uh, Walter?"

"Yeah?" he said, not paying much attention to him.

"Oh, never mind," he smiled after silently chuckling. Sterling was happy in knowing that his tech-gadget partner got a chance to dance with the girl of his dreams, and the same goes to his mission of the night being a success.

After heading through numerous rooms and finally reaching the tunnel room before taking the ride, Sophie explained to her mother that before they could get another snack bowl, slow-dance music began to play and that Sophie and Walter were dancing.

"Oooh, did you guys…you know?" she asked teasingly.

"You mean kiss?" she blushed. "No, not exactly."

"How do you mean?"

"Before we left, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and thanked him for everything tonight."

"Awww! Tell me more when we get to the car!" she said in a squeaky girl fashion. Like her daughter, Cindy was also a hopeful and hopeless romantic which greatly amused both of them.

One by one, they were riding back to the slightly lit darkroom. This time, it was Sophie who scanned the wall with her watch that allowed the entrance to appear. She knew that no one would be close to the figurine so she figured it was not necessary to use her special lenses to scan the room. The two exited the room, headed out of the Lincoln Memorial, and about ten minutes later they reached the Wrangler. While sitting on the front passenger seat, Sophie said;

"Oh, what an awesome night! Where's Annie?"

"She's meeting us back home for an after-party of sorts, a girl's night with Tess too," Cindy replied ecstatically.

"Oh, how wonderful! Is it okay if I just say a quick hello and then disappear into my room please? I feel a little bit tired after the events of this fun evening."

"Yes, of course dear," her mother grinned.

"Thank you, darling."

It was only a short while later that both mother and daughter arrived at their home safely. They also saw that Annie's Yellow Porsche and Tess' Gray Honda were already parked there, waiting for them. Once Sophie and Cindy got out, both Annie and Tess came out in unison and warmly and excitedly greeted their hostesses.

Sophie said good night to everyone and headed up the stairs while happily glancing at her mother and her friends playing a card game. She quickly and gently took off her formal attire and switched to her purple flannel pajamas. Then she went to bed with her phone on the one hand and began texting the following message;

_Hi Walter :) _

_By the time you get this, you're probably fast asleep. But I just wanted to let you know that I had a marvelous time tonight and I hope we can do it again sometime. Anyway, I'm going to sleep now but I hope we can catch up and hang out sometime tomorrow. _

_Good night and sweet dreams :)_

_Sophie :)_

After sending her text, she put down her phone close to her lamp which she turned off and immediately lost consciousness while smiling about the thrilling events that happened tonight.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. Cam McAbow is inspired by the actor James McAvoy. The song put in full is _I'd Give Anything_ by Gerald Levert.**** Now that Sophie and Walter seem to become closer with each other, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	10. Surprises

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait but life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!**

**Saturday**

Sophie's alarm blared out parts of the song _Wild Child _by Enya;

_What a day, what a day to take to__  
__What a way, what a way to make it through__  
__What a day, what a day to take to a wild child_

Awakening with a half-yawn and a grin, Sophie turned off her wake-up call, got out of bed, and did her usual morning stretches. Then she chose her outfit for the day before taking a shower. She felt cool as always with her fashion selections that consisted of black ankle boots, black skater skirt that reached to her knees, white shirt with small black stars, ice-blue star ear studs, and a silver half-crest moon necklace.

Sophie reached for her phone on her small bed table and checked for any messages, and sure enough…

_Hey Sophie :)_

_Yeah, I had a great time too and also hope to do it again sometime. I just arrived home safely thanks to Mr. Sterling. And I also hope we can hang out at some point tomorrow._

_Good night and pleasant dreams_

_Walter :)_

Sophie grinned widely at her friend's text.

Then she descended from the staircase to the kitchen for some breakfast which was a cup of tea, a Golden Delicious apple, and her favourite salad. After thirty minutes of early dining, she left her mother a loving note close to the kettle and proceeded to the garage where her scooter was.

It was a long while before Sophie got to the agency but as prompt and professional she was, she did not miss anything important and got there in time for her daily assignments. While walking to one of the rooms, she spotted a quarrel that had a small crowd watching. She saw that the one lanky young man was struggling to get up and fight while a tall and muscular older-looking man was smiling at him malevolently and waiting for the next blow. Sophie could not believe her eyes.

"_Walter?_" she thought to herself.

She ran and got in the middle of the fight, much to the surprise expressed by the fighters and audience.

"Walter, Steve, what on earth is going on?" she shouted loudly. "Stop it!"

"Sophie, butt out of this," said Steve who pushed her quite harshly on the railing without even seemingly knowing his own strength. The hit slightly hurt her on the stomach. That didn't stop the stunned Walter who then gave Steve a punch under his jaw that sent him in mid-air and landed on his back unconscious. The whole crowd had an expression of complete shock on their faces of what just happened. Then two people came forward and proceeded to drag Steve to a room, presumably a nursing room. Sophie sat on the floor leaning against the railing with an astonished look and turned to Walter who was panting a little yet he looked triumphant of what he just did. Then he glanced at Sophie and his face changed to being concerned when he saw that she still had her one hand on her stomach to lessen the pain.

"Sophie, are you okay?" he said as he helped her up.

"Yeah, thanks, just a little pain here. I'll be all right. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," he said while rubbing one of his cheeks. "Don't worry, I'll be all right," he repeated her words.

"Here." Sophie gave a soft kiss on the cheek where it hurt most. This surprised Walter for he did not feel sore from her sweet peck.

"For healing purposes," she blushed.

"Thanks," he blushed back.

Then her mind quickly jumped back into reality. "But we should get you to one of the doctors here."

"No, Sophie…"

"Don't argue with me," she said gently and firmly.

"Okay…"

"I'll go with you since I have to also get a check-up anyway."

And with that, she laid out her hand and he took it while she was caressing the spot where she had the pain, same deal with Walter who placed his other hand on his aching cheek.

"_She kissed me again!_" he thought excitedly.

"_I kissed him again!_" she thought in the same manner.

The walk did not take long and they finally reached another one of the nursery rooms on the same floor.

"You go first," said the young girl.

"No, you."

"Walter…"

"Please, for me," he insisted.

After a short worrying glance at each other, she responded; "Okay."

She went inside the room with Walter looking at her before she disappeared. It was about twenty minutes later that Sophie came out looking better than before.

"And?"

"Doctor Dawkins gave me a special pill that instantly made the pain in my stomach go away. And thankfully there were no broken bones there," Sophie replied with a grin.

"That's great," the young scientist smiled, glad to see that she was back to her good old self again.

"Your turn now."

"Yip. See you here?"

"Yes, of course."

"See you in a few," he said, grinning.

"Yeah," she responded with the same expression.

Then Walter entered the room. It was the same amount of minutes just like Sophie when he appeared with a miraculously healed cheek that was no longer red.

Sophie got up. "Hey, you okay? What happened?"

"Yeah, thanks. The doctor also gave me a special pill that quickly healed the places that were the most hurtful. Cheek, arm and stomach."

"I'm so glad you feel better already."

"Me too thanks and ditto."

"Thank you. What were you and Steve fighting about earlier today?"

Walter gave out an embarrassed look. "Trust me. You don't want to know."

"No, please tell me. I really want to know."

He looked at her big eyes through her black glasses and relented; "It was about…", then he said with a blush, "…you."

Sophie's eyes widened. "What?"

"The thing is…Steve got really jealous that he didn't get a chance to dance with you last night and thus took his anger out on me and said things like; 'How dare you?' and 'What do you have that I don't?' and 'She's the one for me' and other stuff like that."

"I still can't believe he did that! I genuinely thought he was a good guy."

"Yeah, well."

Then Sophie's cheeks began to turn red. Walter noticed it fast and approached closer to her.

"Hey, please don't cry," he said while kindly wiping away her tears with his thumb.

"I'm sorry. I feel like it's my fault that you got seriously hurt back there."

"No!" Then he put his hands on her shoulders. "Why would you say that?"

"Because if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have got injured in the first place," replied Sophie who received more tears on her face. Walter thought her crying face was really sweet and wanted nothing more than to comfort her in his arms. He extended and circled his arms around her to which she responded in an appreciative manner.

After sniffling, she said, "I'm sorry, Walter."

"Hey, it's okay Sophie. All in the past right?"

"Yes," she agreed and then said while looking up to see his face, which she thought was endearingly cute, "Hey, what are your plans tomorrow night?"

"Sunday night? Hmm, not a lot except maybe relax since thankfully we don't have to come to work. Why do you ask?"

"Well…I was wondering if you want to have dinner with me and my mom and a movie night at my place tomorrow evening, or if you can't, I understand."

Once again, the young scientist could not believe it! Another special moment with Sophie!

"Yeah, I would love that!" he said enthusiastically.

"Fantastic! How about seven-thirty? Dinner's on me."

"I'll be there, can't wait," he said with a smile.

"Me too," grinned Sophie.

Then she quickly jumped into reality. "Well, I should get downstairs…"

"And I should get to the lab," he said.

"Hope I see you later," she said.

"Yeah, me too."

Then they reached for a hug before breaking away. Walter stared as Sophie walked away. By the time she reached the elevator, Walter was still watching until he had to head back to the lab.

It was only about six hours later that the two would bump into each other again on the same day in another coincidence. Sophie had to deliver a number of letters to some of the people in the lab. She couldn't help but stare at the young genius whenever she had to pass him to get to the person she needed to deliver a letter to while he was busy instructing newbies about gadgets and working on some of his own. Eventually, she had no more letters to give out to specific colleagues and was proceeding to the elevator. Walter quickly noticed and rushed after her before she could reach it.

"Sophie!"

His call alerted some of the others and looked to observe what was going on.

Sophie turned to him with a worried expression.

"Hey Walter, you all right?"

"Yeah," he said while panting. "There's something…I have to tell you," he said shyly.

"Yeah?" she said curiously, looking in the same direction.

"_That I really like you,_" he thought. He had the words he wanted to say but just lacked the courage to do it, even in this beautiful yet slightly awkward moment.

"What is it?" Sophie asked.

"Uhm, rather save it for tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Thanks, Sophie."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile. "I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she headed to the inside of the elevator and pressed a button. Then Walter descended the stairs, and as he passed by his colleagues, some were giving him the "aww" look while others were snickering in a mean way.

"Hey, weirdo, what's wrong? Can't even tell a girl your feelings?" said one of the cruel people.

Walter just glared at him, ignored the remark, and went to his office. After he sat down, he laid his elbows down and put his hands on his face as if to hide.

His mind said, "_Why couldn't you tell her at that moment_?"

**Sunday evening**

Walter was about six minutes late when he arrived at Sophie's house. The supper was anyway ready, which consisted of Vegetable and Chicken Stir-Fry. Both Cindy, her daughter, and their guest had a wonderful time at the table conversing, for example, their respective days this week.

"Now, who's up for a movie?"

"Yeah!" Sophie and Walter shouted gleefully.

The film that Cindy picked, which she thought everyone will enjoy, was _Contact_. Both Walter and Sophie sat next to each other on the same couch while Cindy seated herself in another one, wanting to give them some space.

Fifteen minutes after the film began, Walter said to himself; "_Come on man, make your move._" He casually laid his hand on Sophie's, which she reacted happily, fingers intertwining. Walter grinned to himself, feeling the warmth of his crush's hand. Cindy noticed it and smiled at the two young people who were both transfixed with the movie and then continued to watch with them.

By the time it was over, Cindy went to bed after saying good night and thanked them for a wonderful night.

Now that Sophie and Walter were alone, they could talk as they normally do.

"What is it that you wanted to say yesterday?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Walter?"

He said while blushing. "Okay, uhm…you see…I…really like you." Then he took a nearby pillow and hid his face with it.

Sophie's eyes widened in utter shock. Walter liked her! She couldn't believe it! At this moment, she did not realize that she was going redder than ever before. Walter still had his face on the pillow until he felt something warm and kind. Sophie's hand. She proceeded to gently move the pillow off the couch, approach closer to him, put her one hand on his tomato-coloured cheek, and lock lips. Walter's eyes enlarged at first like an anime character until closing them and feeling the intense sensation that was currently happening. Both of them felt an electrical current coursing through their bodies, which left them feeling very alive and entranced and not wanting to let go of the other. Sophie broke away and was glancing at him joyfully.

She said while blushing as well, "And I…really like you."

He looked at her in surprise.

"You do?" he said.

She responded with a nod. Then he hugged her tightly.

"Sophie?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something else I've been wanting to tell you, for a while."

She glanced at him attentively.

"Ever since the day I first met you, I wanted to be closer to you."

"Yeah. Me too, actually."

"Really?"

"Yes. I knew that something happened with me when you nearly hurt yourself in the elevator."

Walter chuckled nervously.

"From that day on, I knew there was something about you that attracted me. Your intelligence, compassion, you never want to hurt anyone even if they've done harm to you, and everything that makes you a wonderful human being. I always thought you were cute when we met and then it turned into something more, every time we hung out."

"Yeah, me too. Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"Will you…be my girlfriend?"

Then she said in a soft and happy tone. "Yes."

The young scientist grinned broadly and rushed in to hug and kiss her, to which she responded excitedly.

Afterward, she asked him; "Do you feel like one more movie before bedtime?"

"Sure," he said.

Halfway into the film _My Life_, Walter heard sniffles coming from Sophie and looked at her with concern.

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to hide her tears, "The movie gets me every time…"

"Hey, it's okay," he said gently, then he crept up to Sophie, wiped away her tears, and hugged her lightly.

Both locked eyes at each other once again then slowly leaned forward and pressed lips against each other. It was a nice soft one. Sophie couldn't believe what kind of kisser Walter was, for he was passionate yet kind. The two stopped, smiled at the other, and carried on watching the film. She bent her head on his shoulder and Walter responded with the same action as well as held her hand tenderly and securely.

"Thanks so much for dinner and the movies," Walter said while preparing his jetpack.

"You're welcome," she said with a grin.

"Do this again sometime?"

"Yeah, I would love that."

Then she gave him a lingering peck on the cheek then turned to face him while pushing up her glasses.

"Good night," she said.

He smiled. "Good night."

He switched on his gadget and he ascended a few feet from the ground. Both waved at each other before he started to fly back home.

With a big grin on her face, Sophie went up the stairs. A door opened.

"And how was it?" asked Cindy playfully.

"Oh, it was absolutely fantastic," she responded dreamily.

Mother and daughter said good night and fell asleep with elated expressions on their faces, especially Sophie's.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. Now that Sophie and Walter are romantically closer with each other, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all very x2 much for reading my story! I deeply appreciate it!**


	11. Common Ground

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

In the weeks that followed, the love-struck couple couldn't get enough of each other's company, whether it's hanging out and conversing in chance encounters at work, or weekend visits at their respective homes. At times, Sophie would sneakily go to a room with various computers and people working on them, and see Walter in action with Sterling while they were on a mission, or go to the lab to give him lunch as well as a quick hug and a kiss before she had to get back to work, which left some co-workers in an "aww" fashion and some in the opposite manner.

One weekend, in particular, Walter invited Sophie for a visit at his place. She was wearing black and white sneakers, baggy jeans, a light-blue T-shirt with black stars all over it, red star earrings, and a yellow choker necklace. The young scientist had his usual red shoes on, jeans, black and white plaid shirt, and a red hoodie that said "science rocks" in a big rock illustration. While looking around its surroundings, Sophie noticed some possessions with the name Wendy Beckett on them. She then saw a picture that looked like a younger Walter and his mother by his side, both having happy smiles on their faces. It also showed that he got a cool present from her, a black pair of big slick-looking sunglasses. Sophie thought to herself; _"She's beautiful. Look at those green eyes and reddish-brown hair… or is it brownish-red hair?"_

"Hey, is that you and your mom?"

Walter turned around and gloomily glanced at it too.

"Yeah."

The young girl observed how sad he looked. "Where is she now?"

He didn't look at her when he answered. "She died."

"What?"

He nodded forlornly then went to sit down on a chair nearby.

"Jeez, Walter. I'm so sorry."

She sat opposite him and put her hand on his lap.

"Can I ask what happened?"

After a minute of silence, he said, "She, uh…rescued many people's lives while doing her job at the police force…but she couldn't save herself in the process…"

Then he shed some tears and put his hands on his face to hide it. He was surprised when Sophie reached over and hugged him. He returned the gesture. Then she sat down again.

"My dad is in heaven too…"

Walter lifted his head to face her, seeing that she was about to cry as well. Then she stood up and walked around the living room.

"He, uh…died from cancer four years ago…"

Then her tone of voice slowly shifted from normal to voice-breaking.

"I really thought that he was going to make it. With the help of chemotherapy. He had pancreatic cancer. But in the end…it couldn't save him. I remember singing a song to him while he was in his hospital bed. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would ever see him."

"What song was it?"

_Papa, Can You Hear me?_ by Barbra Streisand," she said while shedding a tear.

"Will you sing it for me?" asked the young scientist.

"I don't know…" she said hesitantly. Whenever she thought of her dad, it was mostly good memories but there were moments when she cried about him, whether it was a song or a movie that he liked a lot.

"Please?" He asked nicely with his liquid-blue eyes.

She glanced at him sadly.

"Please?" he repeated.

After a moment, she turned away.

_…__can you hear me?  
Papa, can you see me?  
Papa, can you find me in the night?_

_Papa, are you near me?  
Papa, can you hear me?  
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?_

_Looking at the skies  
I seem to see a million eyes  
Which ones are yours?  
Where are you now that yesterday  
Has waved goodbye  
And closed its doors?  
The night is so much darker  
The wind is so much colder  
The world I see is so much bigger  
Now that I'm alone_

She sang as best as she could while still having tears. Then she broke down into crying softly, her hands covering her face. Then she felt Walter's hands on hers. He gently let them down and embraced her with a warm hug. She responded back. Both of them had tears in their eyes. None of them expected to have the same common and traumatic aspect of their lives; the loss of a dear parent.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. Sophie's dad's cause of death is inspired by my own dad's almost similar and tragic occurrence years ago. After that particular experience, what will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! **


	12. Something Unexpected

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

After their embrace, both looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"You're not alone," said Walter who then planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

She smiled. "Thank you. Same to you. Never forget that."

"I won't. Is that why you were crying last night, during our last movie together?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah…the character in the movie reminds me of the experience my dad went through before he…ascended to Heaven…Can we change the subject please?"

"Of course."

Then Sophie put her hands on his shoulders. "I don't know about you, but I could use a movie."

"Yeah, me too," said Walter, who then made a thoughtful glance. "I think I know just the thing," he grinned. "Ever heard of _Hearts in Seoul_?"

Sophie shook her head. Then he rolled his eyes playfully. "Where in the world have you been?"

"Sorry, but I'm not super smart or cultured as you."

"I would argue that you are. Maybe you just don't know it yet," he said with a smirk.

She laughed mockingly and said, "Very funny."

He grinned, "So?"

She snorted. "Okay, but on one condition."

"What?"

"You have to watch something scary with me."

"What?! No way, Jose!"

Sophie crossed her arms. "Okay then. No more hugs and kisses for the rest of the day."

"Oh, I can handle that."

She laughed. "No, you can't."

"Want to try?"

Sophie walked to where there was a bookshelf and selected H.G. Wells' _The Invisible Man_, and proceeded to lay down on a nearby couch and began to read while Walter looked at her with surprise.

She turned to him. "Try that."

He said coolly, "Okay. See if that works."

Then he went back to his books to continue his latest project regarding psychedelic and painless contact lens that allow the user to have rainbow-coloured eyes as a way to hypnotize a villain as well as look cool in a party. About twenty-eight minutes have passed since the two spoke. Walter really felt like kissing Sophie. She was thinking about the same thing but she wasn't about to give in easily, both for fun and experimentation.

"Ah! That's it!" he shouted, startling Sophie and his orange and white pigeon Lovey who was happily resting on a small nest close to Walter. He dashed and landed on top of an astounded Sophie and locked lips. Yet another passionate one. She closed her eyes and responded with the same reaction. Her arms circling on his back and his on hers.

Breaking away, she said with wide eyes, "Whoa."

"Sorry, you're right. You are too irresistible."

"I know," she giggled cheekily.

The two carried on making out. When Walter reached to touch her thigh, she gasped and immediately stood up. It looked like she was about to cry again.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

_No, no, this is nothing like the previous one_, thought Sophie. _Keep it together_.

Walter reached to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Sophie?"

"I'm sorry I can't," she said. And with that, she rushed out of his house and ran to hers.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. After that odd occurrence, what do you think will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter!**


	13. A Secret

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry for taking very long as life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!**

A short while later, Sophie reached home and closed the door behind her. Her mother was out with a friend which meant she was home alone for a little bit. The young girl sat on the last step of the stairs, put a hand on her forehead, and started to shed tears. Felix cuddled up beside her leg. She sadly and lovingly stroked him and he began to purr like a diesel engine. All of a sudden, there was a knock.

"Sophie?"

"Please Walter…leave me alone."

"I don't understand what I did wrong. Please tell me."

"Not right now."

"I hate to be pushy but please?"

Sophie looked at the closed door, contemplating.

"Please? And then I'll go."

"Do you really mean that?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course."

Then she sighed deeply. "It's open."

The young scientist entered the house, saw where she was, and approached her.

"Have a seat," she gestured to the big couch. He made himself comfortable with Sophie sitting a couple of inches away from him.

"Okay…" she began to speak which making anxious movements such as slightly moving her feet. "…I got scared just now."

"How come?"

"Because…when you touched my thigh, I had a flashback of my ex…. I was seventeen and happy with him. Patrick Chapman was his name. But when we started going out, things got a little bit traumatic from there. He kept on forcing me to do the real thing, even though I wasn't totally ready for it…"

Then Sophie started to cry, her voice breaking as she spoke. "…And then he said, 'then you don't like me a lot anymore.' Which was not true. You can like someone before the real thing happens. It's all about planning, not being afraid to do it, and having fun. After that I dumped him. A week later he…committed suicide by jumping off a bridge and drowned himself. I should feel bad about it but how could I when he was forceful? Trying to make me do things that I wasn't prepared to do. There are days when I think about it, but most of the time I just bottle up that memory, especially with my mom who doesn't even know about it to this day. That's why I don't let stuff like that ruin my day and always put on a cheerful smile, even when I really am happy."

Walter let out a heavy breath. "Jeepers…I kinda feel sorry for the guy but at the same time, not so because of what he did to you, or tried to do to you."

"Yeah," she said sadly. And then sat down a few inches away next to him. Then she felt his hand on hers. She turned to him.

"Sophie…I never, ever want to hurt you or do something that upsets you."

"I know. And same with me to you."

"May I hug you?" he asked politely.

She smiled. "Yes."

Then he tenderly circled his arms around her. It was a warm embrace. She returned it.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," he responded.

"Promise me…that you'll be patient with me about…sex."

"Yes, cross my heart." Then he made the gesture. "Sophie, I fell in love with you, the real you. The kind, smart and fun you, everything about you. We trust each other with anything that comes next for us right?"

"Right," she agreed.

"We cool?" he asked.

"Of course we are."

"Now, how about _Hearts In Seoul_?"

"Yes, but that other thing still stands…"

He widened his eyes. Then Sophie laughed.

"I'm messing with you. You really don't have to, unless you want to someday," she said teasingly.

"You know, maybe," he said with a chuckle. Then he raised up from the couch and extended a hand to her. "Shall we?"

The young girl grinned and took it. Then they walked to his place, hand in hand.

Forty minutes had passed since they made it safely at his house and Walter introduced Sophie the aforementioned series. The two were sharing popcorn while watching it.

After the first episode, Sophie said, "Doesn't the ending feel a bit cheesy to you?"

"Yes and no."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, sure that's how the two main characters meet at a pizza place, but at the same time it gives you a bit of heart-warming feeling you know?"

The young girl gave a thinking glance and then grinned, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Walter opened his eyes broadly. "You guess so?"

She let out a wide cheeky smile.

After getting up he said, "I'm gonna get you for that."

"No!" she shouted excitedly, nearly alarming Lovey. And the young scientist began to chase Sophie around the house. They were giggling loudly during the fun time. Eventually, he caught her and both fell on the floor guffawing. Walter straightened her glasses and they gently stood up followed by a cute cuddle. Then the couple locked lips.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. After Sophie's backstory, what do you think will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Also stay safe and happy during this time.**


	14. Conquering A Fear

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry for taking very long as life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!**

It's been exactly a couple of weeks since Sophie and Walter started dating. And as usual, they could not get enough of each other.

One day during a conversation about water, Sophie shared a secret to Walter that, according to her, was embarrassing. The fact that she could not swim. After saying it out loud, she covered her face with her hand.

Looking at her sympathetically, he said; "Hey, it's okay. I bet there are lots of people who can't do it. Maybe they have even tried as hard as they could."

"Yeah, but there are those who can."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Honestly, no."

"But do you want to?"

"Yes…and no."

"Why, no?"

"Because…I'm scared of what the water might feel like."

"It feels great, that I can guarantee you."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sophie said with an uncertain look.

Walter thought for a few seconds. "Hey, I have an idea."

"Yeah?"

"The next hot day, I'm taking you somewhere."

"Where?" she asked curiously.

"Do you trust me?"

"You know I do."

"I'm not giving any names but all I ask is for you to trust me."

"All right. I'll take your word for it," Sophie said after kissing him.

The following Sunday was a hot summer day indeed. Walter managed to make another jetpack for Sophie. It had a beautiful hue that looked like lightning with specks of black on the sides. They flew until they landed close to an awesome-looking place that had a few swimming pools, both for adults and children, and there was even a cool slide.

"Here we are," said Walter.

Sophie was surprised that they came here. She had a range of emotions at this very moment. Part of her said to be brave and overcome her phobia, while the other part was hesitant.

"This I did not expect."

"I hope it helps."

"_Me too,_" she said in her head.

They went to their respective restrooms to change. Walter was the first to come out and sat on the closest seat that was white-coloured like the rest of them. He was shirtless and wearing adorable swimming shorts that were green and black checkered. While waiting for Sophie, he put on some sunscreen and laid out in the sun for a short while. He kept a red bag by his side that was full of necessary items for when one feels like swimming.

"I don't think I can do this."

"Hey, you're gonna do fi-" The young scientist was completely caught off guard when he saw Sophie's swimwear. It was a one-piece that was midnight blue with a big star in the middle and at the back. She also put her glasses away in her jetpack before she changed clothes.

She noticed his gaze and said; "Walter, you okay?"

He immediately went back into reality. "Uh, yeah. It's just…you look amazing."

"Thank you."

Then she looked at his outfit, "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Thanks," he said while endearingly going red as well, which made her chuckle. Then she saw his lanky yet cute bare chest and the rest of his upper body.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said playfully, trying hard to hold her laughs. But he could see that she was lying.

He walked up to her while smiling. "Come on, spill it."

"If you must know…" she said in a teasing tone and putting her left hand on his chest. She could feel his heart thumping incredibly fast which made him blush.

"Has anyone told you, that you're handsome?"

Walter smiled and jokingly said, "Every day."

His answer made Sophie giggle.

"You ready for this?"

"Kinda," she said tentatively.

"We'll do it together," he said before reaching out his hand.

She took it and said with a slight smile, "Together."

Then the two ran and jumped. Sophie could feel the tingly feeling of your body hitting the semi-cold water. The whole underwater experience scared and excited her. She knew she was in capable hands with Walter who was encouraging and supporting her 100% with her fear. It was at that moment that Sophie knew she felt lucky when she was with Walter and that he came into her life. Well, she always knew that from their first and rather intriguing meeting but not at a level like this.

After coming to the surface for air, gasping like Ariel in _The Little Mermaid_, Sophie said while trying to warm herself, "It's a bit cold."

At this point, she got the hang of swimming thanks to the basics that Walter told her about.

"Yeah. Sometimes it's like that."

"Even in the seawater?"

He said hesitantly, "Colder than in most swimming pools."

Sophie laughed.

Then Walter said while approaching her, "Sophie?"

"Yeah?"

"Has anyone told you…that you're beautiful, even when wet."

Sophie chuckled and said, "Why thank you, Mr. Beckett."

"You're welcome Ms. Jays," he replied. Then they made passionate lip contact.

Then suddenly, the speakers from above began to blare out a song. Both Sophie and Walter looked at each other then giggled.

"May I have this dance?" asked the geeky scientist, playfully bowing to Sophie and offering his hand.

Sophie smiled, "Oui, monsieur."

She took his hand and the two began to dance while mouthing the lyrics together. Because they were in the water, it was in the form of a slow dance.

_I wasn't jealous before we met  
Now every woman I see is a potential threat  
And I'm possessive, it isn't nice  
You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice  
But now it isn't true  
Now everything is new  
And all I've learned has overturned  
I beg of you_

_Don't go wasting your emotion  
Lay all your love on me_

_It was like shooting a sitting duck  
A little small talk, a smile and baby I was stuck  
I still don't know what you've done with me  
A grown-up woman should never fall so easily  
I feel a kind of fear  
When I don't have you near  
Unsatisfied, I skip my pride  
I beg you dear_

_Don't go wasting your emotion  
Lay all your love on me  
Don't go sharing your devotion  
Lay all your love on me_

_I've had a few little love affairs  
They didn't last very long and they've been pretty scarce  
I used to think I was sensible  
It makes the truth even more incomprehensible  
'Cause everything is new  
And everything is you  
And all I've learned has overturned  
What can I do_

_(x2)  
Don't go wasting your emotion  
Lay all your love on me  
Don't go sharing your devotion  
Lay all your love on me_

_Don't go wasting your emotion  
Lay all your love on me  
Don't go sharing your devotion  
Lay all your love on me_

_Don't go wasting your emotion  
Lay all your love on me_

When the song ended, the two were looking deep into each other's eyes and full of grins. Sophie loved Walter's liquid-blue eyes, well, she loves everything about him. The same can be said for Walter. He loved everything about her, including her eyes that looked like her chocolate-coloured hair.

"Sophie?"

"Yes, Walter?"

"_I love you,_" he said in his head.

The young scientist just smiled. "Nothing."

Then he kissed her forehead before reaching to her lips with passion.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping and teaching me how to swim," she said.

He gave out a cute toothy grin. "Pleasure."

For the rest of the afternoon, they had a joyful time in the pool. By the time it was close to sunset, they flew to their own homes but not before giving each other a good night hug and kiss.

A couple of minutes after he arrived home safely, Walter called Sterling to tell him that he helped Sophie conquer her fear and the agent smiled and said his congratulations.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. The song is ****_Lay All Your Love on Me_**** by ABBA. Sophie has overcame her swimming phobia with the help of Walter, what do you think will happen next? Find out in the upcoming chapter! Also stay safe and happy during this time.**


	15. The Big Night

**Author's Note; Here is the next chapter. Sorry for taking very long as life keeps one busy. Hope you enjoy!**

A month had passed and as usual, the couple spent some time with each other whenever they had free time and also did fun activities, not just together but with other people, such as Sophie challenging Haley with a karaoke night. How the night happened it went like this:

Sophie managed to get Haley's phone number from a mutual friend and the two started texting, slowing becoming good friends. The two did not expect to have some things in common, such as both of them loving anime and are fans of Stephen King and the band Journey. Later on, Sophie asked if Haley felt like a night of karaoke, to which she responded ecstatically. They agreed to have it on a Saturday. Little did they know how fun it would turn out.

On Friday during lunch break, Sophie was hanging out with Walter at the lab. He was working on a gadget that was supposed to show a giant holographic dragon meant to scare the agency's enemies, particularly in the shape of Draco from the movie _Dragonheart_, while he was telling the story of how he and Sterling saved the world from Killian who, rumour has it, was somewhere in a faraway jail thinking about how Walter rescued him from his fate. Sophie found it to be amazing and intriguing.

"So, I have invited Haley for a karaoke night," Sophie said to Walter after giving him a tight hug, which he returned with great pleasure.

"Ah, cool. And what did she say?"

"She said she'd love that."

"Nice."

"I was wondering…" Sophie said with a playful look.

"Yeah?" he said similarly.

"…if you could be the judge of our performances," she said with a big innocent toothy smile.

"Well, that's a bit of a cheat."

"Why?"

"Because I bet you sing better than her."

"Aww, that's really sweet of you, but you don't have to say that."

"I mean it."

"I know you do, but seriously, would you do it?"

"Hmm…okay, but on one condition," he said with a smirk.

"What?" she said with a confused grin.

Then he approached closer to her so that he could whisper in her ear.

"What?" she gasped silently.

He shrugged with a playful smile.

"Well…if you insist," she said jokingly after a few seconds.

Sophie proceeded to drag Walter from his working space and place him in a spot where everyone can see them, and in a big public display of affection, locked lips with him passionately. He gladly returned it with the same gesture. Some of the colleagues had _"aww"_ looks on their faces, while there a few appeared to be disgusted by it.

When that was finished and the two went back to the young scientist's table, Sophie asked, "How was that?"

"That I did not expect."

Both of them laughed.

The following night, Sophie, Walter, and Haley were having a fun time at Mustangs, firstly having dinner, although it was merely a snack. French fries and chicken strips in finger-food fashion. Then it was karaoke time. Walter was the judge as promised, and he found it to be enjoyable, but of course, it was a little bit difficult for he wanted to be supportive of Sophie since he loved her singing, but he also wanted to be a fair judge to their performances.

It was a round that consisted of the girls singing five songs but it had to be one per artist.

Haley's playlist included in chronological order:

_Barracuda_ by Heart

_Another One Bites the Dust_ by Queen

_After All These Years_ by Journey

_When Doves Cry_ by Prince

_Smells Like Teen Spirit_ by Nirvana

Both Sophie and Walter were surprised with Haley's singing ability and choice of music.

Sophie's playlist included in chronological order:

_Born in the U.S.A._ by Bruce Springsteen

_The Winner Takes It All_ by ABBA

_Baba o' Reilly_ by The Who

_I Drove All Night_, the Celine Dion version

_Sussudio_ by Phil Collins

Of course, Walter was blown away by his girlfriend's singing but reminded himself to think as a judge.

"Well girls, the winner is…Haley."

Haley did a little victory dance that made everyone laugh. "Better luck next time," she said playfully.

"Oh, it is so on," Sophie giggled. "What a lot of fun huh?"

"Yeah, it was," said Haley.

Walter nodded with them.

**1 month later…**

"Hey, do you want to sleep over sometime this week?" asked Walter.

He and Sophie were in the lunchroom during their break. They sat opposite each other while eating different food, Walter a sandwich and the young girl a Coco Pops bar and drinking juice and water respectively.

"Yeah, I would love that," she said.

"Awesome. So, like, Saturday night? That way, we also have a bit of Sunday to ourselves."

"Sounds perfect," she smiled.

This was on a Tuesday when the question came out. The whole week felt like it went very fast for it was already Saturday. At one point, because Sophie was thinking about other things, she was so close to getting herself in trouble when she almost forgot an important parcel to be delivered to an agent. Luckily, that was sorted out quickly.

Later that evening at Walter's house, when she told Walter about her near incident, he had to hold his laugh. This was after Sophie let her mom know via text that she was going to sleepover at his place, and her mom's reply was one of diligence and relaxation, "Cool. See you tomorrow darling xx"

"It's not funny! I hate to think what would happen if the worst happened. I could've gotten fired."

"But hey, you managed to save it, ergo not fired, ergo more time with me, lab or otherwise," he said with a smile.

Sophie grinned at her smart and goofy boyfriend. "Yeah, okay. But still, I gotta be more careful next time. It's not my fault a certain someone is constantly in my head," she said playfully.

"Oh, is that so?"

She nodded with a smirk.

"Come here, you." And with that, he grabbed her and pulled her in for a tight hug. Sophie managed to take off her glasses and put it down at the closest stand and really felt the intense embrace coming from Walter. She did not want to be let go of. She did not want this moment to ever end. All she ever wanted was to feel the love coming from the people very dear to her.

"Walter?"

He faced her lovingly. "Yeah?"

What Sophie was going to say next surprised him.

"I think…I'm ready."

Knowing what she meant, he said, "Are you positive?"

"Yes. But also if you are too."

He kissed her passionately. "Does that answer your question?"

"Maybe," she said cheekily.

He smiled in the same way, locked lips with her again, picked her up which astonished her considering his stature, and off they went to his bedroom.

It was a cool-looking room, one that might be considered typical of geeky bedrooms. White wallpaper, and a blue-coloured bed. Walter gently put Sophie down and both stood in front of each other very closely.

The couple started to take their garments off. Afterwards, the two glanced at each other intensely.

After seeing that Sophie was grinning at him, he asked, "What?"

"Nothing, it's just…you are very handsome Walter."

He found himself going red. "Thanks, Sophie. And you are so beautiful."

"Thank you."

By now, the young couple were in bed and a little bit exhausted from all the fun.

Then Walter had the confidence and courage to say the three immortal words.

"I love you, Sophie."

Her eyes enlarged and she turned to face him. She was looking at him with such astonishment.

"And I love you, Walter Beckett," Sophie said while beaming.

"I'm very lucky."

"No, I'm so lucky," she smirked.

He smiled at all those words and proceeded to kiss her and other related passionate aspects.

Eventually, they fell fast asleep in each other's arms, knowing that nothing in the world can destroy their love for each other.

**Author's note; I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it. Now that Sophie and Walter have taken a big step in their relationship, what do you think will happen next? Find out in the upcoming and last chapter! **


End file.
